“Danger is real, but fear is a choice.” As intriguing and captivating as this catch phrase sounds, the film as a whole may not fit that classification. While M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth (2013) is ineffective in reaching some of its audiences as anticipated, others seem to have enjoyed the movie thoroughly. The film opens with a promising story where humans are forced to escape a polluted Earth inhabited by an alien race that is trained to exterminate them and retreat to Nova Prime, a new home, to find refuge. General Cypher Rage, played by Will Smith, plays a fearless warrior who has superior “ghosting” ability to mask his fear which makes him invulnerable to the aliens. His son Kitai, played by Jaden Smith, is an eager cadet wanting to follow his father’s footsteps. Cypher takes Kitai along with him on his next mission, hoping to find some quality time to spend with his son. However, a crash landing forces Kitai and his father, Cypher, to be deserted on Earth a few thousand years after humanity’s escape. Kitai is called upon to make the journey to the back half of the aircraft located 100 kilometers away and retrieve the beacon himself. Ultimately, Kitai saves the day and brings back the beacon safely and achieves self-realization by conquering his fears. This time around, Shyamalan fails to make a strong impression on his audiences previously having directed box office hits including The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. With moments of true greatness and exceptional performances, After Earth by M. Night Shyamalan still ultimately fails to live up to its hype due to a mediocre plot and misleading themes, while still being one of 2013’s most captivating films to discuss.
If the audience can overlook the generic plot and conflict...
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While After Earth by M. Night Shyamalan could have achieved more, it has settled as just another movie at the theatres. The film fails to reach the audiences because of a mediocre plot and conflicting messages, regardless of an appreciable performance by the actors. Even though the film’s theme contradicts itself through the course of the movie, the acting rescues it from being a complete flop at the box office. If audiences are looking for a movie with a slow paced plot, this is the movie to watch; if not, then audiences should look somewhere else. Even though there is a lot of meaningless running around, audiences witness a well performed rite of passage for a boy who must conquer his fears and feelings of insecurities. Shyamalan has received great praises along with insulting comments for his work throughout the years, After Earth stands somewhere in between.
[2] Missing is a rather confusing film to follow at first. Admittedly, I had to view it a few times to understand what was happening. Perhaps the initial feeling after seeing this film is confusion. However, after having watched it a second, fourth, eighth time, what I really felt was anger. Each time I watched the film, the anger and disgust would grow, so much so that it pained me to watch it again. However, in identifying the cause of my anger, I began to realize many things.
The film After Innocence, was a compelling documentary after watching it. It “tells the dramatic and compelling story of the exonerated - innocent men wrongfully imprisoned for decades and then released after DNA evidence proved their innocence. The film focuses on the gripping story of seven men and their emotional journey back into society and efforts to rebuild their lives. Included are a police officer, an army sergeant and a young father sent to prison and even death row for decades for crimes they did not commit” (After Innocence, About the Film, Para 1). These men had to endure agony and suffering from being remove from society. By the criminal justice system locking these men away they suffer from emotional and psychological trauma.
The Singularity. It sounds like a cheesy eighties sci-fi flick starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carrie Fisher, complete with one-liners and a cult following that survives till this day. However unfortunate it may be, that’s not what the Singularity refers to. It refers to the greatest paradigm shift in humanity’s history, and it would alter our understanding of the Earth in an unimaginable way. It refers to the point in time where Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become so intelligent that they will out perform humanity and gain new knowledge at an exponential rate.
Into the Wild, a 2007 nonfiction film based on New York Times bestseller book written
Quentin Tarantino has proven time and time again to be one of the most confusing directors to understand when attempting to unravel the personal ideologies in his films. Each of his films deals with race, sexuality, and gender to some extent, and it is often difficult to know whether or not Tarantino is making a commentary on these things or if he truly believes much of the problematic discourse found in his films. Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 are a testament to this understanding of Tarantino’s films, as they appear to be extremely feminist films at surface level yet, upon deeper inspection, have some very problematic qualities. Looking at Kill Bill Vol.’s 1 and 2 through both a feminist and anti feminist lens can allow the audience to better
It is a common mis-conception that films are merely entertainment, and serve no other purpose than to provide for the viewer a two-hour escape from reality. This is a serious under-estimation of the power, purpose, and potential of film, because film, upon reflection, revea...
Perhaps an even stronger testament to the deepness of cinema is Darren Aronofsky’s stark, somber Requiem for a Dream. Centering on the drug-induced debasement of four individuals searching for the abstract concept known as happiness, Requiem for a Dream brims with verisimilitude and intensity. The picture’s harrowing depiction of the characters’ precipitous fall into the abyss has, in turn, fascinated and appalled, yet its frank, uncompromising approach leaves an indelible imprint in the minds of young and old alike.
you hate to the return to present day world. This film dazzles it’s viewers by
make us see exactly what he wants us to and this film is a very good
As Jake finds his way from his ordinary world into a new world packed with adventure, the film captures his journey and throughout the film, there are links to the hero’s journey. Essentially, Jake’s new familiar world becomes Pandora as he reaches a point of acceptance from the Na’vi people. Cameron has created a film packed with action and adventure but there are also many emotions between the avatars. Overall, the shots, sound and lighting all played a major role to distinctively indicate the emotions and action within the film and capture ‘The Hero’s
With many different genres and types of filmmaking, it can result in a large variety of stories and conflicts. Nevertheless, film has always brought people together as a society. If there is one thing everyone can notice about films is the achievement in style and directing. The three directors talked about in this paper are the most successful at delivering a breathtaking style and direction to their films. Baz Luhrmann, Wes Anderson, and Martin Scorsese have produced and directed films over decades and each film as impacted not only the United States but worldwide. With the unmistakable trademarks that each director has, it is very easy to feel sucked into the world in which they are shaping around you and the story. Because of these three directors, the film world and industry has been revolutionized for many centuries to come.
...n earth is not alone” create engagement and curiosity. The montage sequence of Will barricading his home and the sheer sunset reflecting from the window informs that the protagonists are vulnerable to night. The bird’s eye view shot of Will in the bathtub with his dog and hugging a sniper emphasises the protagonist’s vulnerability. This visual construction has really exerted a strong emotional effect for the audience as well as a clear emotional synopsis of a dystopian narrative.
In the movie Transcendence, the Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is a scientist and prominent researcher in the field of artificial intelligence. He and his group of scientist want to create the first machine with a conscience and all human knowledge. His researcher makes him famous but at the same time he becomes the target of extremists technophobes who will do everything to stop him. When the extremist group shoots Will with a bullet laced with radiation, he is given no more than a month to live. Desperate, his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) decides to upload the consciousness of her dying husband in the machine he created. It was without counting on the ability of the machine to take precedence over the man. Everything turns into a nightmare
...n (Director) mistakenly seems to believe can carry the whole film. On the strength "based on a true story", he has rejected attention-grabbing characters, an imaginative plot, and unforgettable villains.
In today’s world adversity is a part of everyday life. It can come in small doses or be dropped like a ton a bricks on an unsuspecting victim. In the face of all this adversity it is important to stay strong and set goals. The goals help to measure achievement and once someone had overcome their adversity and come out on the other side even stronger they have truly triumphed. To triumph over an adverse situation is to achieve such a large amount of success that it goes beyond original goals or expectations. In John Lee Hancock’s The Blind Side and Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity triumph over adversity is a common theme. Certain aspects of their movies, including camera shots, dialogue, and symbolism are used to demonstrate situations where not only is success found in adverse situations, but triumphed over. Hancock and Cuaron both show how attempts to triumph over adversity can be manipulated by social contest and how the resulting triumph can alter personalities and situations.