This movie exists only so Will Smith can get his son more acting roles. The fact is, the remake of The Karate Kid wasn't going to help him make a name for himself. He needs a big budget blockbuster that has lots of CGI, aliens, and a bigger name in it that people will pay premium dollars to see - namely, Will Smith.
First off, I have no idea what accent Will and his son were going for. Whatever it was supposed to be, it doesn't work at all. I mean, at all. Young Jaden Smith starts this movie off with a voiceover, and that voiceover tells little other than that an accent is being attempted, and it's not going well. When we meet Will's character, it's evident that they're both going for that accent. Jaden's voiceover is the first chance we get to be entertained with the mushmouth that Jaden is sporting. That boy has no idea what the word enunciation means.
M. Night Shyamalan hasn't made a good movie since Unbreakable. That boy has had a series of bad moves one right after the next. The Village? The Happening? The Last Airbender? Well, we can safely add this to the pile of unsuccessful movies. The idea behind the movie might not be a terrible on, but it seems like it was inevitably going to turn out bad.
The young Jaden idolizes his father, who commands a ship. For some reason, it's okay for Will to take his son with him on a mission, and something bad happens during the flight. So, they wind up on Earth - you know, the Earth that was. Everyone on board dies except for these two. And Will is trapped on the ship, so he talks his son through the world as an experienced guy instructing his padawan.
The story is not great.
Dialogue is bad.
Direction is bad.
Acting is bad.
Effects are better in some spots than others (those CG orangutans sucked.)
1/5