Will Smith and his child Jaden Smith are reuniting to play father and son on the big screen in After Earth, the new science-fiction thriller directed by M Night Shyamalan.
Poor M Night is kind of like the Carrot Top of cinema, after a string of either just okay or laughably terrible movies (Lady In The Water, anyone?) convinced audiences/me that he’s a one trick pony filmmaker, unable to recreate the success of his wildly praised, Academy Award-nominated debut The Sixth Sense…
However, After Earth has the potential to be Shyamalan’s comeback movie. Firstly, unlike every other film he has previously directed, Shyamalan didn’t conceive the story or write the original screenplay of this movie, so hopefully this one won’t end with one of his signature ‘twist endings’ like IT WAS ALL A DREAM or other unsatisfactory twists that will make you punch a wall/your neighbour. Secondly, Will Smith has had a history of choosing movies in this particular cinematic oeuvre (I Am Legend, I, Robot), and has given great performances in them.
The story is set one thousand years after some significant event forces humankind to flee planet Earth and re-settle in a new place that looks vaguely Avatar-ish. Anyway, if you follow the Mayan Calendar the timing for the trailer couldn’t be more perfect, so enjoy!
