18 June 2013

AFTER EARTH

I watched this science fiction movie two weeks ago. Starring the father and son team Will Smith and Jaden Smith, it bombed at the box office. M. Night Shyamalan has repeatedly made movie flops after his famous supernatural movie 'The Sixth Sense' in 1999. He has clearly lost his magic and failed to pull in the crowds despite all the attempts to inject creative plots into the storyline.

I guess this movie was a failure because of the slow pace and sleepy performances of the pair. It was literally a movie made for father and son. Set in the future about a thousand years later, humanity abandoned earth after a series of environmental catastrophes. A spaceship carrying a team of ranger corps headed by General Cypher Raige acted by Will Smith and his son crashed onto earth. All on board perished except the father and son team. Thereafter the movie went downhill as Will Smith was stuck to his seat in the spaceship throughout the rest of the movie looking drugged and drowsy. His expressionless face almost put me to sleep as well. On the other hand, Jaden Smith tried very hard to carry off the rest of the movie but sadly, the one person performance failed to lift the enthusiasm of the audience as he leapt down a ravine, battled baboons, survived after being bitten by a poisonous leech, escaped from a pack of hunting tigers and a giant condor before finally killing the alien Ursa and saving his dad.

These days, I enjoy watching the beautiful scenic view in such movies and if I didn't enjoy the movie, at least this much fascinates me.