After Earth
The path of fear
Director M. Night Shyamalan has always stirred controversy with his films, generating legions of defenders and detractors, since the worldwide success of “The Sixth Sense” (USA, 1999). It couldn’t be any different with “After Earth” (USA, 2013), although, unlike most of his films, this was not from an argument of his, but from Will Smith.
As the title itself suggests, “After Earth” is an apocalyptic science fiction story, where, in the distant future, the human race was forced to abandon its home planet. In addition to the unbridled exploitation of natural resources by the humans themselves, an external threat has arrived in the form of aliens.
The weapon used by the invaders were monstrous beings nicknamed The Ursa, who, although blind in sight, sniffed out the feronomials generated by humans in a panic situation. The destruction of lives was not only greater due to the appearance of warriors nicknamed “ghosts” as they were able to control fear and face the alien beasts.
The most famous of these “ghosts” was General Cypher Raige (Will Smith), the charismatic leader of the Rangers, soldiers defending the human colony of Nova Prime, where the survivors of humanity had taken refuge, making the Earth a forbidden place.
Although acclaimed in his midst, Cypher had serious difficulties in the relationship with his son Kitai (Jaden Smith). The boy, traumatized by the brutal death of his sister, attacked by a Ursa, did not achieve good results in outdoor activities, which harmed him in the desire to become a Ranger.
In an attempt to improve relations between the two, Cypher invited his son to travel with him to a training center on another planet. The trip, which would be just a routine transport, actually led a Ursa, which would be used in the training of new “ghosts”.
But an asteroid storm causes serious damage to the ship, which is forced to land on the nearest planet – obviously the forbidding planet Earth! In shock, most of the crew die, and only Kitai and his father, who is badly injured, survive.
Having as sole solution send the distress call through equipment that was in the back of the ship, Cypher finds himself forced to send the boy on a risky mission, walk more than a hundred kilometers in a land populated with unknown beings, with a rarefied atmosphere and unimaginable obstacles. It would already be a difficult task for a trained soldier, and even more so for an inexperienced teenager.
But as it was the only solution, Kitai leaves in search of the rest of the ship, while Cypher is monitoring his son, fearing for him due to the worst threat in the universe: a Ursa on the loose, and brought by themselves!
The Earth that Kitai faces had changed a lot since the departure of mankind. The temperature drops to freezing levels at night, and many animals have adapted to the new living conditions, becoming monstrous beings.
But the greatest battle Kitai must face will be with his own fear. For this, he will need to understand what his father says, when he explains that “danger is real, but fear is a choice.”
The script of the film presents some holes, but the main focus is the journeys of the boy, one real, amid the dangers of the unknown land, and other in his own intimate, where he has to deal with the relationship with his father and the loss of his sister. In addition to the adventurous journey, full of action situations, the film suggests an interesting analogy, with the no less risky and painful passage from childhood to adulthood.
As one would expect, the special effects are magnificent, both in the “technological” environments and in the creation of animals, especially the alien Ursa.
This movie can be viewed on the Netflix streaming platform.