“After Earth” is currently being shit on by critics and audiences alike, and I have to wonder why everyone is choosing to not give this little sci-fi movie a chance. Because really there is absolutely nothing that is woeful or so terrible about this movie that it deserves any vitriol. Really, the worst response I can foresee for this movie would be that it is forgettable and will be barely a memory in ten years, but this has nothing to do with the craftsmanship displayed and more to do with the very small story that seems to be the opposite of the large-scaled adventure that was promised by all the marketing and commercials.

“After Earth” takes places 1,000 years after humans have left Earth for a more hospital home, and constant war with an alien race has forced them to establish troops of Rangers, trained soldiers who are supposed to do battle with these aliens. But none of this really, truly matters, because it only exists to set up the real story, which is that of a stranded father and son trying to get back home. While on a mission to a different planet, a spaceship crash lands on Earth, which is now full of incredibly hostile indigenous lifeforms, and the only survivors of this crashed ship are Commander Cypher (Will Smith) and his non-ranger son Kitai (Jaden Smith). Oh and some mean ole alien thing called an Ursa that the humans were transporting for training purposes, and which is now loose on the hostile planet along with Cypher and Kitai. As Cypher’s legs are both badly broken due to the crash, he has no choice but to send his cadet son on a dangerous 100-km trek to find an emergency beacon so they can signal for help. And really that’s the whole movie right there, Kitai leaves his injured father behind to find the beacon or else they are both going to die. And that’s it.Continue Reading …