Trailer-
The film stars Will Smith in a weirdly robotic 'I'm an emotionless dickhead' role and his son Jayden Smith who also plays his son in the film. Set in the future the two crash-land on Earth which was abandoned a long time ago and is apparently swarming with massive evolved animals and horribleness that Jayden Smith's character will have to come face to face with. Sounds like we've got an action packed adventure ahead of us!
What Earth in 1000 years actually contains is a few monkeys, regular sized lions and a big bird that isn't sure if it actually quite likes humans or not. There was a huge potential to create a load of hideous creatures but as it is they don't seem that exciting. This is a major flaw when the main substance of the film comes from the chase scenes and fight scenes. There's enough of it to last a trailer, maybe two, but the rest of the film is void of much else.
There is a bigger monster that provides the film with it's finale but the Smiths actually bring this monster with them from their home planet which begs the question why not set the whole film there? I'd rather Jayden Smith fight a few more of those massive beasties rather than some characterless CGI'd lions.
The biggest problem of the film is quite possibly Jayden Smith himself. He is here because his Dad is in the film and it all feels a bit like a Hollywood version of bring your son to work day. He's not given many chances to show emotion and when he does he just makes the face of an angsty teenage boy who's been dumped by a girl via facebook message. Something like this:
Other than the occasional action scene I wasn't really engrossed in the film at all and was constantly aware it was all just CGI and Hollywood sets. Earth has next to no atmosphere and is just...well Earth. Something I found very strange in the film was the almost complete absence of music. It picks up a bit when there's action but otherwise it's Will and Jayden Smith talking sternly to each other in complete silence. There's the sound of animals in the distance and rustlings in the trees but it's more or less the same sounds you could hear on a walk at Haddo House or Kirkhill Forest. Earth may be 1000 years in the future but it doesn't seem to have changed an awful lot.
I'l end with the positives. The film does have an adventure feel to it and there is a bit of tension as Jayden Smith wonders through the jungle in near silence. The action scenes while not that great do serve up at least a bit of excitement to get you through to the end of the film. The film doesn't do anything massively wrong but just needs to have some kind of emotional backbone or some frantic edge of your seat moments to make it even half memorable.
It all just feels a bit bland and it's like the film has only been made so Will and Jayden Smith can be in a film together. If you want to experience the best bits on After Earth just watch the trailers. The actual film barely adds much else.
4/10
Main Blog- http://www.elephantchris.blogspot.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment