One thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind’s new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige (played by Will Smith) returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai (played by Jaden Smith). When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai’s craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance.
I hate to make fun of M. Night Shyamalan, because it’s the low-hanging fruit of the film critic these days. After making some truly terrible movies with The Happening and The Last Airbender, Shyamalan’s name being attached to a project has basically become a joke. But this teaser for his next movie – After Earth – is just begging to be mocked! It essentially combines the premise of Wall-E with the teasers for The Social Network, as apparently Facebook is still a thing long after humankind has blasted off into space. What’s more, this teaser is so exposition-heavy that it completely fails to get me intrigued about the movie…which, based on its actual plot description doesn’t resemble the film this teaser is advertising at all. I dunno…like I said, I don’t wanna hate on ol’M. Night, because we’ve seen pretty clearly that he has talent. But these days…I just don’t have a lot of faith in his ability to deliver an entertaining film. Am I alone here?
After Earth comes out June 7, 2013.