After Earth
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Isabelle Fuhrman, Sophie Okonedo, Zoë Kravitz
Columbia Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 100 Minutes
Release Date: May 31, 2013
In the future, humanity is forced to abandon Earth after a series of cataclysmic events. Human civilization is re-established on Nova Prime, a habitable exoplanet beyond our Solar System.
One thousand years later, the United Ranger Corps is at war with the Skrel, an aggressive alien species. Led by the fearless General Cypher Raige (Will Smith), the Ranger Corps fight the Skrel’s ultimate weapon: the Ursa. Bred for warfare, the Ursa are genetically engineered for one purpose: to hunt and kill humans.
Cypher and his rebellious son Kitai (Jaden Smith) are transporting an imprisoned Ursa when their spacecraft is damaged by an asteroid storm. The ship crash-lands on post-apocalyptic Earth, freeing the deadly alien beast. With his father severely injured, Kitai must retrieve an emergency beacon by embarking on a perilous trek across uncharted terrain to signal for help.
Co-written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan (The Last Airbender), After Earth is a father-son story dressed up in the trappings of science fiction. With a story by Will Smith and a screenplay penned by Shyamalan and Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli), After Earth is a slapped together hodgepodge of sci-fi tropes that is as tedious as it is generic.
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