After Earth (2013)

“After Earth” must be mocked. How else to react to a sci-fi survivalist tale from once-great director/writer M. Night Shyamalan that is set on a desolated/abandoned future Earth, but one that looks like a commercial for a tropical adventure? (Cities? There are none.) This is absolute unintended comedy, a wonder of miscalculation. Despite MNS’s name, Will Smith is the man in charge as producer and story creator, and it isn’t even his vehicle. The star is Smith’s teenage son Jaden, who had better luck and better support in pop’s “Pursuit of Happyness” and the recent “Karate Kid” remake. The syrupy story has a “Great Santini” father (Will) and his green horn son (Jaden) all angry dinner scowls and then later crashing their space shuttle on said Earth. Naturally, the duo must bond as son serves as the “avatar” hero of his father, whose legs are shattered. Also in the shuttle and now loose on Earth because no space cliché can go untouched: A slimy monster that eats people. I can take hodge-podge films that wink at their theft, but “Earth” is blindly, awkwardly convinced of its own “inspirational” Hallmark gruel. It's just gruel. Younger Smith looks miserable. C-

The Karate Kid (2010)

“The Karate Kid” is a remake in name and theme of the 1984 Ralph Macchio flick about a picked-upon teen who takes up karate to defend himself. Here, the sport is kung-fu, and the hero’s age is dropped, the races changed, and the location taken halfway around the world. Jaden Smith (son of Will) gets dragged to China by his mother because of her job. By the end of his first day, Trey has made a friend, met a girl, and made some serious enemies. When Trey is quite nearly killed, the local handyman saves him. That’s Jackie Chan, never-better. You know the rest… Yeah, it’s simple plotting, and many characters are flat, but there’s plenty of heart here, and lovely details. Early on, the camera pans up a corner wall in Trey’s Detroit bedroom. Marked on the drywall are highlights of his young life: Kindergarten, lost teeth, his daddy dying, and he marks off – with a pencil – “Moved to China.” Smith – his eyes always testing, watching, studying, absorbing – will be a bigger star than his father. At the climax, I became as jolted at 37 as I did at 10 back in 1984. B+