While perusing the website rottentomatoes.com, I was shocked at how negative the reviews for the movie After Earth were. I saw this movie with my family and a few friends recently and we all thought it was great. Could have been that we were having so much fun together that we would have enjoyed any movie, but I highly doubt it. I’ll admit there may have been a few points about the movie that left me with questions, but that’s no biggie, it just lays the groundwork for a possible sequel, plus being left with a few questions is not enough to make me say the movie is a piece of trash. I loved it and I want to rebut some of the criticism the movie has gotten.
First, a brief rundown: By now you most likely know that the PG-13 rated sci-fi flick After Earth stars real life father and son Will Smith and Jaden Smith. The story is by Will and its script was written by Gary Whitta and M. Night Shyamalan who also directed the film. The movie takes place 1000 years after the earth becomes uninhabitable for humans. Chypher Raige (Will Smith) embarks on his last mission before retiring from the military and, persuaded by his wife, he takes along their son Kitai (Jade Smith).
As the only two survivors after their spacecraft is forced to crash land on earth, the father and son duo must not only work together in order to survive, but they also must overcome personal issues in order to find acceptance and forgiveness regarding a past family tragedy.
Below are just a few rotten tomato gripes versus my take on the issues:
Critic’s Complaint: The movie is predictable.
Defense: People like to see the good guy win in the end and they expect it. At the moment, I can’t think of any G or PG-13 rated movie that doesn’t follow a predictable format, at least not without a sequel.
Critic’s Complaint: It didn’t make sense that everything on earth evolved to kill humans who no longer live there.
Defense: Animals didn’t evolve after humans left the Earth; the official website for the movie explains that humans left because everything evolved to kill us and the air became unfit to breathe.
Critic’s Complaint: Will is guilty of nepotism and this is a vanity movie designed to allow him to pass the [symbolic] baton to Jaden.
Defense: Nepotism in Hollywood is nothing new and doesn’t automatically make a movie bad. As a father, Will is helping his son to pursue what seems to be a passion of his, acting. It just might be in Jaden’s blood. And if no one else is banging down the Smith’s doors with parts for Jaden, why is it wrong for Will to tailor a part for his son? Roles are hard to come by in Hollywood, especially for black actors, so if an actor has the means to develop his own projects, creating work for others in the process, it would be foolish not to. I say Kudos to Will for trying to guide and solidify his son’s career.
Critic’s Complaint: Jaden has no charisma and lacks the acting skills to carry the movie.
Defense: I’m willing to bet there are more than a few tween and teenage girls all over the world swooning for Jaden at this very moment. As far as his acting chops, I feel that he presented the character exactly the way he was meant to be presented; a scared teenage boy practically alone in a dangerous and unfamiliar place, questioning himself but still desperate to prove himself.
The points I’ve covered here are not even the half of it. The critics gripe on and on about everything from the CGI effects, to the dialect of the characters and alleged scientology influences. Still, none of the movie bashing I read has changed my thoughts or feelings about After Earth. Again, I thought it was great, and I would definitely recommend it to others.
