It’s a source of tension between father and son, Stoney and Weepy, because the son was there and didn’t help and because the father wasn’t there.Įventually these two will be the only survivors of a crash landing back on Earth, where, as the injured Cypher tells his son ominously, “Everything has evolved to kill humans.”Ĭool! Except, it turns out not everything has evolved to kill humans. When he was 10 he watched as his older sister was slaughtered by an Ursa, and the memory always drags him back to fear. He can run faster, jump higher, than the other cadets, but in the field he’s a mess. Cypher’s teenage son, Kitai (Smith’s son Jaden), is attempting to live up to the old man (as is Jaden), so joins Ranger Corps boot camp. Every bit of humanity is drained from his personality. No fear, but not much of anything else, either. His heroism will eventually make him a general. That man-and again with the names-is Cypher Raige of the United Ranger Corps (Will Smith). But one man figures out how to defeat them: Just don’t show fear, yo.

Story by Will Smith, by the way.Īpparently in the near future we will make Earth uninhabitable (global warming, etc.), so will leave, travel light years, and settle on a new planet, which we will name Nova Prime.Īll together now: Nova Prime? That’s the name we came up with? Did we get to vote on it? Were there other options? I’m sorry, but nothing indicates B-grade science fiction to me more than “Nova Prime.” I see a 1950s paperback with a drawing of a handsome man and woman grappling in the foreground, and a rocket ship in the background: 35 cents.Ī thousand years later an alien race wants to take over Nova Prime (to rename it?), so they sic Ursas on us, huge, multi-limbed creatures which can’t see us until we exude pheromones until we show fear. It’s the only way to survive its 100-minute length. You watch it with friends and toss jokes at the screen. Night Shyamalan for culling such a leaden performance from such a charismatic actor. For 20 years, Smith has exuded effortless charm and fun onscreen and here he strips himself of both.

When the Academy Award nominations roll out in January, you’ll probably hear about Matthew McConaughey in this and Robert Redford in that and Chiwtel Ejiofor in the other, but nary a word about Will Smith in “After Earth.” Shame.

After earth movie 2013