What is wrong with critics? This movie was great! Let's start at the beginning however. Prior to the beginning actually. The previews that were on display prior to this movie were horrendous looking. Of course, I haven't seen these movies yet (and probably never will) but they just seem like a HUGE waste of millions of dollars. I'm speaking specifically about Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and Pacific Rim. The latter being a fail by del Toro. Remind me in 2 years to rent Real Steel and Pacific Rim, make sock puppets, and have all my buddies over for a laugh fest. That sentence is great and I'm not changing it. Onto After Earth...
I read a few reviews on Flixster/Rotten Tomatoes (c) and noted that the experts gave it a splat of 14%. C'mon and wow. That is harsh. I guess when a movie is tagged by M. Night Shyamalan, people just go crazy. Hell, they even gave the Croods a tomato rating of 69% and that SUCKED. Don't be frightened by the talk of bad CGI or green screens in After Earth....or by the speak towards lack of plot. I had a great time watching this, in fact, a wild adventure. Re: the green screens I can say, I barely noticed anything. Just go and let your hair down. Enjoy it. Maybe others have an eye for this but I wasn't focused on it and didn't notice anything bad. Also as you're watching, realize how hard it would be to film a movie on the planet Earth (ha). Re: the plot, it was tremendous. I even shed a tear at the end. In classic old-style M. Night fashion, the story revolved around the eyes of a family - and all that this family could see, but not much more. Loved it. Put this one up there with other epic adventures like Clash of the Mohicans and Die Hard III.
At the very beginning, being my first Jaden Smith film, I was worried. He starts the movie with some sort of crazy accent. Perhaps this is his actually voice? I'm not sure, but it seemed forced and fake? I wondered for about 26 minutes if they were pretending that people on this other planet (not Earth) lost the accents of Earth, and talked strange now. After he was back on Earth however, I didn't notice anymore. Actually Jaden did a really good job. He is the primary character, so don't be fooled like others (stinking critics) who were depressed that Will wasn't the primary focal point.
Mid-way through I was taken a back by a quote by Will, and here it is: "Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real. But fear is a choice. We are all telling ourselves a story. That day, mine changed." Word to that. I will live my life by this motto and plan to get it tattooed onto my stomach likely. Very powerful. And after looking it up online, I guess it is a pretty popular quote.
I'm so glad I took a half day today. Best bleeping day of my fucking life.
