With After Earth, filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan tries to continue his bounce back from the disappoint of his last few films, such as Lady in the Water, The Happening and The Last Airbender. Shyamalan made a positive step forward with Devil, which saw him break from his pattern of total creative control by handing a story from his “Night Chronicles” to a different writer and director, resulting in a fairly well-received film.
However, After Earth sees Shyamalan back at the helm and taking on the sort of high-profile blockbuster material he tackled with Airbender (to disastrous results). Of course, Earth is already getting a boost from the family-brand star power of Will and Jaden Smith – not to mention, the intrigue of seeing the Smiths (and Shyamalan) working in the sci-fi genre.
Right off the bat, this After Earth teaser presents a picture of the future that is somewhat similar to the trailer for Oblivion, the new sci-fi film from Tom Cruise and TRON Legacy director Joseph Kosinski. The mix of natural and technological elements and color palettes is immediately noticeable in both films, yet equally enticing to the eye in either case. Shyamalan’s film will also likely draw comparisons to the distant future segment of Cloud Atlas, what with the similarities in costume and tech design and the sort of dialect spoken by the characters (Will Smith’s futuristic southern drawl compared to Halle Berry’s future-street-slang delivery in Cloud Atlas).
The Future Earth of ‘Cloud Atlas’
After Earth manages stand out from other recent future-Earth sci-fi films in the sense of wonder that is being offered. This trailer almost paints the film as a sci-fi version of the The Road, with a father teaching his son core values about what kind of man to become, against the backdrop of a harsh, threatening environment. There is a question (judging from the footage) of how much screen time Will actually has in the film; it seems like this will be Jaden’s show to carry, and that the rest of the cast will appear either in flashback or through other extraneous methods (video chats, etc.).
The young Smith proved in The Karate Kid (love or hate that remake and its upcoming sequel) that he definitely has his dad’s star potential. This film, however, will test that potential on a much more mature and challenging level than physicality and/or minor dramatic emoting. Can we watch this kid onscreen for hours and still be intrigued and/or moved by him? Perhaps.
For Shyamalan’s part: so far it seems that he has a mind and eye for sci-fi, and has constructed some pretty great sequences in this film. The opening shot of Will’s character, “Cypher Raige,” getting sucked away as the hull blew definitely got a jolt out of me, and the vision of Earth – and all those aforementioned threats waiting there – definitely have me intrigued to see more.
After Earth will be in theaters on June 7, 2013.
Source: The Film Stage
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The fact that M.Knight isn’t writing this movie has me sold. He’s an awesome director, the downfall of his most recent films have been in the writing. The guys that wrote have academy awards under their belts so that also raises my interest. Definitely on my check list for 2013.
My big (and really only at this point) concern with AE is going to be whether or not Oblivion takes some of its thunder due to the similarities in the plots and overall themes of the two movies (though from the trailers, Oblivion seems to be darker and AE more of a ‘fun’ movie).
The twist is its all a dream, but then it isnt, and they are not on earth, they are in hell, but then they find out its heaven, and the animals arent bad. they are good! but then they go bad again! what a great twist!
lol
it looks like its going to be a really good movie. I was amazed by the trailer. definately going to go see this next year.
A planet that has evolved to kill humans?! C’mon what a load of crap. Do we really consider ourselves the center of all things? I’m sick of this egocentric thinking, and this is why our global society is turning to crap. I’ll pass on this one.
So we should make movies not about us? Like Avatar but without the humans?
That’s one possibility. Why not make a movie from Predators perspective on their home planet involving their hunt/fight with Xenomorphs with absolutely no human interaction what so ever. That, I’d pay to see.
But that wasn’t my point, actually. For one, life on a planet that has evolved to kill one species that hadn’t existed on the planet until they crashed is ludicrous. Nature evolves through adaptation and co-existence. Sure some species are food for others, but some aid other species. That’s the balance of nature in it’s intricate web of life.
Why not make a movie that is forward thinking instead of this outdated and boring, “Mano e mano” scenario. There is plenty of science to back it up. Fx. putting two or more scientific theories up against each other would make for a complex and and limitless story. Sure, humans would have an exclusive role in it, since we discovered science. But it should raise our understanding of what is, and what’s possible. That’s science fiction. the rest is science action. There always has be a damned hero.
Avatar is just another movie about eradication of another race/species. Just like when Europeans traveled to America and eradicated most of what was once the American Indian civilization. There’s very little science in it, and not so fictitious in correlation with our past.
@Kryptowus:
Some of us like science action… if I wanted science I would watch a documentary, if I wanted social commentary… I wouldn’t be paying money to watch a movie, I would be donating it to a charity.
You’re killing my sci-fi buzz.
P.S. I thought the same thing about the evolution bit but I believe the animal life evolved while humans where there and then killed them off and what you see is a planet without humans. Imagine some catastrophic event that caused humans to mass exodus from Earth and then the remaining stragglers were slowly eradicated by the wildlife (I remember reading a zombie book where all the pet dogs without masters became hunting packs). The original title of this movie was 1000 A.E., so I think 1000 years could result in a savage planet.
I think you should go the official website, It seems that you don’t know what the story is about…….
http://www.afterearth.com/site/
Or a Planet before Humanity became the dominant species.
They crash in an area that shows no signs of buildings, car, Starbucks.
So it can be viewed as a violent earth, a period that we did not record, or was not suppose to be recorded.
Earth is what they could have called it.
Kind of like The Re-Imaging of Battlestar Galatica.
Not really. What I took away from that comment in the movie was that Smith’s character was telling his son that “look, Earth hasn’t had human population for over 1,000 years. There are no tame animals. This isn’t going to be a walk through the park. Everything here has evolved in a kill or be killed world without civilization.”
Civilization is what put man on top of the food chain. Without our tools and technology (fire and pointy things made by grinding them on hard objects for instance), we’re pretty helpless against most of the other creatures living on this planet.
Its Planet of the Apes, without the apes… Plus with a bit of The Road mixed in for good measure.
Kind of sick of Jaden cashing in off his name so much. Hopefully this movie can change my opinion. Looks pretty promising. Will probably watch it online 2 months before it comes out on dvd.
Huge pass on this movie. Shyamalan’s trailers pull you in and look amazing. Then you see the movie and you’re pissed that you wasted your money on a garbage film. He’s had too many chances, he’s awful.
Plus, Smith and his stupid kid (who won’t stop sniffing his dad’s a**) are INCREDIBLY overrated.
…*phew* there. Vented.
Huge pass on this movie. Shyamalan’s trailers pull you in and look amazing. Then you see the movie and you’re pi**ed that you wasted your money on a garbage film. He’s had too many chances, he’s awful.
Plus, Smith and his stupid kid (who won’t stop sniffing his dad’s a**) are INCREDIBLY overrated.
…*phew* there. Vented.
Looks very good….im pretty excited between this & Pacific rim, THe hobbit trilogy & a whole host of othe movies…2013 should be an excellent year for movies.
It looks good, but trailers tend to do that. However the script was written by Oscar nominees and has and Oscar nominated actor. I just wish Will Smith would do more drama, he’s actually a really good actor.
Eh. Not a fan of that little s*** Jaden. That sounded jaded. I just don’t like him. If his dad wasnt in this, he wouldn’t be in this, if his dad aint produce the Karate Kid, then he wouldn’t have been in the Karate Kid. AND HE WASNT EVEN THAT GOOD IN IT!! Plus, Nights last couple of movies have been absolute montalphon (s*** was too nice a word, so i made one up)
Same here, Jaden’s like Shia LeBeouf to me, totally annoying, talentless and overrated. I saw the Karate Kid remake and actually rooted for the villainous kids to kick his ass, just like I wanted his character to die in The Day The Earth Stood Still.
I might see this when it’s on tv but it looks like a Hollywood movie version of that show Life After People.
I also rooted for the Chinese kids and for him to die in TDTESS. That kid has this incredibly annoying quality about him. Hell, the whole Smith clan does. Those kids have no business being in show business.
Worst choice of Actors.
Will Smith is an outstanding actor, just completely unfitting for that movie.
Jaden is a s***ty actor, thus shouldn’t ever be picked to play in a movie.
M Knight isn’t the storyteller he was in the sixth sense but none the less he is a great director
http://youtu.be/30WUJyjnQUY
So the kid who ruined the Karate Kid for me paired with the director who ruined Avatar for me?
Yeah… not seeing that…
After a thousand years, anything built or made by humanity would be destroyed or decayed, except for a few rare items that are probably buried under the soil, underwater, or covered by vegetation. Nowadays, we rarely build anything to last the ages.
I am willing to give the movie a chance. Nothing is set in stone, just because there were past failures, doesn’t mean this movie will fail too. As they say, nothing ventured nothing gained.
This movie isn’t set 1000 years in the future. 1000 years is nowhere near long enough for evolution to actually have a noticeable effect on a species and it is set 1000 years after a cataclysmic event forces humans to leave Earth. That event could be any date in the future.
Furthermore, and IMO, I don’t think 1000 years is long enough for the majority of people to forget the home planet of humans.
As a counter-arguement to the counter-arguement of my last statement, I am reckon that, with the Will Smith’s character talking about training and calling Earth a class 1 quarantined planet, I don’t think he is part of the majority, knowing about Earth is probably because he is working for some military or government party.
I may be wrong as I’m sure some people are better at interpreting these things but that’s what I think.
http://www.afterearth.com/site/
Please, Devil, a step up from the Lady in the water(best movie ever)
we when to cinema seen Jaden smith and will smith after earth I like so much I am biggest fans in the would I see it again one day good film my father and son so nice next time save money very sure thank you