One time my mom made a pitcher of iced tea. It was the summer and I knew that later in the day it was going to get really hot, so letting the tea chill in the refrigerator was perfect so I could come in the house and have a refreshing beverage. The time came and I poured me a glass, it was nice and cold too. I took a sip and immediately spit it out. There was no sugar or lemon. I never had an experience like that until I saw this movie. Bland, bland, bland. No flavor, no flavor, no flavor.

Now, of course, if you're an A-list actor like Will Smith and you're filthy rich why not make a science fiction movie to help you're up and coming son get better roles and push him into the acting world. That's what parents do, so I'm not mad at that. But I just feel like the movie could have been way better. I don't think it's an acting thing because everyone knows that Will Smith can act and Jaden is good as we've seen in Karate Kid and The Pursuit of Happiness. I believe that when you have a situation where good actors act bad, it's all on the director. Come on people, M. Night Shymalan hasn't had a good movie since The Sixth Sense. When I saw that he was writing and directing this, I just let out a deep sigh.

The film could have been way more epic. An hour and thirty minutes is just not enough time to do every thing that this film could have done. The main storyline about father and son trying to build their relationship after the death of their family member is a good one, but it should have been a subplot to a bigger plot. There were some parts where I was just uncomfortable with the acting and the delivery. There was one part in particular where Jaden's character was running from some creature and he yelled "Leave me alone!" Jaden who are you talking to? Was that phrase in your cadet training? Do the animals speak English or maybe you should try German? When he said that line, it's just confirmed the overall cheesiness of the film and I knew there wasn't a chance in the world that I could take it seriously.

I didn't sense the real danger that we were built up to experience. I think in every movie about being stranded on a deserted island, you encounter some feline creature, a big bird trying to protect her eggs, some poisonous bugs, a waterfall and a very dangerous creature that you better run from because it can kill you. In a nutshell, the movie was very predictable. In any Sci-Fi movie, you have the opportunity to really be creative and come up with some cool concepts and things that the audience has never seen before. It seems as if the filmmakers just settled. IT's definitely a very good idea but overall, not good execution. I didn't see how Earth became a dangerous place for humans, it was just a jungle where some of the animals were a little bigger.

One question, Jaden was wearing a very high tech suit. How come it didn't have anything to help with temperature control? How come the suit didn't have hand coverings to prevent from being bit by that poisonous leech? Why didn't the suit have an oxygen mask? Why did they only have staff? No guns or laser shooters? No shields? I don't know, maybe it was just a prototype. Hahaha okay now I'm being facetious.

Overall, I think it was a good attempt but definitely failed. Terrible choice for a director and the movie could have been more bearable if they cast other actors. If Will wants to bond with his son, they should just go fishing, not make a terrible movie that they're not going to get any profit off of. Save your money.

The classic Hollywood problem: a colossal budget for the special effects and the actors, with a crap script: it's rough and confusing, with some bewildering and moronic scenes. This movie is obviously a pop corn movie, but a bad one. On the other hand, I do not understand the unjustified avalanche of hatred against Jaden Smith, even if he is very far from Daniel Day Lewis, Cary Grant or Charles Chaplin, he is reasonably credible. Unlike the screenwriters!

I must have missed the 'everyone say crap about this film' meeting, After Earth is quite simply NOT as bad as the majority of reviewers are implying?! I'm not biased, I don't worship any of the actors but I do know my films and can appreciate them even when they're not what I anticipated!

I sat and read about 15 reviews before deciding I wanted to go and see this film anyway, and happy I did. I'm a sci-fi fan so when films include the sounds of a spaceships engines... in umm... space, well that annoys me. But I could forgive After Earth for this and it's other negatives because it's not a hardcore sci-fi, even if it somewhat tried to be in places.

Will Smith is very monotone throughout, correct. Jaden Smith is probably a few years away from this role working fully for him, correct. There are some question marks over the uncomplicated and slightly predictable plot and cheap looking set design in places, correct. But it was good escapism fun for an hour and a half and worth seeing on the big screen.

I won't deny, there could have been improvements and big alterations in many places to the point that this could have been an 8/10 from me, but it works on the level it chose to be at. Considering Will Smith had near full control of this project - writing the script, coaching his son's performance, personally hiring M Night Shyamalan (but only for basic directing) - this film is good for what it is.

Had it come before Star Trek, Oblivion and Cloud Atlas this year and if M Night Shyamalan didn't have a bad rep then I think this film would be at the 6.5/10 rating that I think it deserves.