African American Movie Reviews

After Earth: Nepotism and Missed Opportunities

After Earth is the cinematic equivalent of watching LeBron and Bronny play one-on-one… except Bronny’s wearing cement shoes, and LeBron refuses to pass. This film had potential—alien planet, survival, father-son duo—but then nepotism came in like a wrecking ball. Look, we get it. If we were Will Smith, we’d give our kid a movie, too. But two hours of Jaden struggling to emote was rougher than that CGI wilderness.
Plot? Oh, that’s simple: crash, survive, avoid monsters. But not just any monsters—creatures who literally smell fear. Seriously? Couldn’t they smell this movie flopping?
Meanwhile, Will Smith spends 90% of the runtime sitting down, barking orders through a radio. He’s supposed to be the baddest man alive, yet his biggest battle is staying awake in that chair. Talk about wasted talent. This is Big Willie we’re talking about! Why’s he playing space Siri?
Jaden tries his best, but watching him carry this film alone felt like watching Bronny go against prime LeBron. Dude wasn’t ready. It’s painfully clear that Daddy Smith wanted this more than Jaden did.
And then there’s Zoe Kravitz. Her 14 seconds on screen were the peak of this film. She showed up, dropped more charisma in a flashback than anyone else did the whole movie, then dipped. We felt that absence. Hard.
Visually, After Earth is stunning. But so is a screensaver, and that has better dialogue. M. Night Shyamalan directed this? Plot twist: we didn’t see his career nosedive coming.
All in all, After Earth is a movie about fear—fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of telling Will Smith no. Should you watch it? Only if you’re curious about how powerful nepotism can be.