After Earth
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: May 31, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
33
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
17
Negative:
20
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
38
Slant MagazineChris CabinMay 30, 2013
The art of storytelling is both of distinct narrative interest and personal issue in the latest payload of calcified nonsense from one of modern cinema's oddest would-be auteurs. Read full review
38
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMay 30, 2013
An undemanding, childish adventure picture. Read full review
35
NPRMark JenkinsMay 31, 2013
A disastrous father-son endeavor about a calamitous father-son expedition, After Earth doesn't play to the strengths of any of its major participants. Read full review
33
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMay 30, 2013
Fans of either Smith will be sorely disappointed. The elder never before appeared this listless on screen, and the younger misplaced his unforced rapport with the camera that made the Karate Kid reboot so impressive. Only Shyamalan delivers what moviegoers expect from him, and that's a shame. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJun 3, 2013
Were Shyamalan and Smith deliberately invoking the terror — now omnipresent in urban African-American communities — of lethal asthma attacks in children? I’m not sure how I feel about something so real and so wrenching in the context of a Grade D (unfit for human habitation) sci-fi picture like After Earth. Read full review
30
The New York TimesManohla DargisMay 30, 2013
For the most part it is an uninteresting slog alleviated only by the occasional unintended laugh and moments of visual beauty. Mr. Shyamalan generally torpedoes his movies with overweening self-seriousness. Read full review
30
TimeRichard CorlissMay 30, 2013
Running, or stumbling, only 90 minutes, After Earth may lack the neck-swiveling awfulness of Shyamalan’s "The Last Airbender," but it quickly sinks in its logorrheic solemnity. The movie makes "Oblivion" seem as jolly a romp as "Spaceballs," and gives neither Shyamalan nor Smith much to smile about. Read full review
30
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlMay 30, 2013
Jaden is fine at running, jumping, fearful trembling, and affecting steely resolution. He doesn't yet have his father's charisma; perhaps to help him out, dad opted not to bring that charisma to the set. Read full review
30
VarietyScott FoundasMay 30, 2013
Shyamalan is clearly a director-for-hire here, his disinterest palpable from first frame to last. Nowhere in evidence is the gifted "Sixth Sense" director who once brought intricately crafted setpieces and cinematic sleight-of-hand to even the least of his own movies. Read full review
25
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay 31, 2013
The sad truth about After Earth is that not only is it difficult to find things it does well, but there are numerous examples of outright incompetence dotting the landscape. Read full review
25
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMay 30, 2013
You can’t blame Will Smith for wanting to give his son a leg up in the business. Maybe one day Jaden will have his father’s career — and his ability to carry a movie. For now, it’s a little premature to ask him to bear the weight of this soggy, waterlogged “Earth” on his skinny shoulders. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter TraversMay 30, 2013
The young Smith has energy, but not the acting chops. And he's no miracle worker. The burden of carrying this dull, lifeless movie is just too much. And it's hell on an audience. It's not a good sign when you sit there thinking – Make. It. Stop. Read full review
25
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 30, 2013
Surprise — this bad dream is for real. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMay 30, 2013
Quite simply, this is one of the worst films of 2013. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 30, 2013
Jaden is not ready for his solo spotlight, and the film is the same action over and over. Another bad movie from Shyamalan. Read full review
25
New York PostLou LumenickMay 29, 2013
Basically, this is Smith and his real-life son, Jaden (both affecting ridiculous mid-Atlantic accents) talking the audience to death for something like 90 minutes before the closing credits. Read full review
20
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 7, 2013
He's done it again. M Night Shyamalan has done it again. Again. Done it. Again. He has given us another film for which the only appropriate expression is stammering, gibbering wonder that anyone can keep making such uncompromisingly terrible movies with such stamina and dedication. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMay 30, 2013
The script has no nuance, none. And when Shyamalan moves into the director's chair, the script problems are magnified. Everything is spelled out, underlined in red. Read full review
12
Film.comLaremy LegelMay 30, 2013
After Earth stupefies us with nonsense, such little thought and logic went into this idea that it can’t even be considered a rough draft, this is a movie almost daring an audience to emotionally detach throughout. For shame! Read full review
0
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMay 29, 2013
Summer 2013 has its first bomb, and sadly, it’s landed right on Will Smith. Read full review
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