PART ONE: THE PLOT
Hypothetically speaking, pollution is bad for the environment, right?
News flash: global catastrophes, terrible pollution, and now we have to leave our home world.
Hypothetical THAT.
One thousand years in the future, after Earth has been abandoned and humanity has found a new home in the planet Nova Prime, the peacekeeping soldiers, the Rangers, are faced with a new and far more terrifying dilemma: we are not alone in this galaxy.
Arriving on Nova Prime only very recently, the aliens have dropped terrifying, blind monsters called Ursas that can literally smell human fear and kill them with ease.
That is, if you have any fear on you. Which is why Ranger general Cypher can stand in front of an Ursa and take it out without breaking a sweat. Literally fearless, he is invisible to the Ursas, an event others call 'ghosting' and so has taken on a very major role in the war.
His son, Ranger cadet Kitai, is another story. Having seen his own Ranger sister Senshi killed by an Ursa at a young age, Kitai isn't what you'd call the fearless type.
When his quiet, stern father returns home from long deployment, and he fails the test that would make him a full-blown Ranger, Kitai is excited to be invited on a long space trip with his father, who he barely knows but desperately wants to.
Things get complicated, though, when their ship crash lands far away from Nova Prime, on a class-1 quarantined planet called Earth. To make matters worse, Kitai and his father are the only survivors. Worse still is the fact that the tail end of their ship containing the only working distress beacon, is over one hundred kilometers away through deadly jungle and monstrous creatures.
But worst of all: An Ursa was on the ship before it crashed, and it could even now be wandering the waste in search of its human prey.
With two badly broken legs and a slight head wound, Cypher isn't exactly fit for a 100+ Km hike, so Kitai must undertake the journey alone, or father and son both are going to die.
On a planet given over a thousand years to evolve towards humanity's extermination, tracked by a relentless Ursa and haunted by traumatic memories, Kitai must find the strength and courage to save both himself and his father, and return safely to Nova Prime.
PART TWO: THE REVIEW
WHO told Jaden Smith to adopt that strange accent?
Well, besides that silly accent, I was impressed with both Jaden and Will Smith's performances. Will Smith totally pulled off the stern, quiet, very military countenance and personality of Cypher.Though not exactly the most colorful or lively character, he was still well performed by his real world counterpart. But in my book, it's Jaden who gets the bigger round of applause.
More talkative, more relatable, and more lively, Kitai is a character you can relate to: a young man on the brink of manhood, desperately trying to please his father, overcome his past, and find courage and worth in himself at the same time.
I thoroughly enjoyed the locations, cinematography and effects in the movie, along with the simple but cool backstory about Earth and humanity. I laud the acting, despite the large lack of dialogue, and the whole father-son story of acceptance and forgiving was not disappointing.
I liked the idea of Earth evolving for the sole purpose of being able to kill humans. Despite not agreeing with that possibility, it's a good plot element, and that's what matters.
The beginning is a bit slow, but there are emotional scenes including animals, flashbacks and key father-son moments as it progresses that make you want to finish. I did not like how quiet the movie was--not just because of Cypher, but because of the lack of music, and sometimes lack of all background noise.
Also, even with the volume cranked up, it's hard to understand what Cypher is saying sometimes.
But other than that, I enjoyed the movie and still think it's worth watching, and if you're an aspiring author like me, you might even gain some inspiration and concept ideas from it.
As far as positive family messages go, Kitai and Cypher both take their turn at raising their voices at each other, but at the same time desperately want to know each other better, and both express grief at Senshi's death and love for Faia, Kitai's mother. Cypher, even though badly wounded and incapacitated, tries with everything in him to help his son by guiding him via communicators through difficulties, even refusing to take painkillers that would make him drowsy and impair his vision.
Ultimately, like I said, it's about Kitai and Cypher coming to grips with and learning to understand and admire each other.
The phrase 'Danger is real, fear is a choice', along with the other wise things Cypher tells his son are also bonuses to the movie.
PART THREE: CONTENT REPORT
For language, the d word, g word and the slang 'sucks' are used. The Ursas are actually quite scary creatures, big and multi-legged, with sharp pincers, acid spit etc., and they can track you by the pheromones and chemicals you secrete when afraid.
They even make grisly scenes of death to frighten humans, such as hanging and impaling crewman up in trees, tearing apart a throng of baboons and leaving them in a gross bloody pile, and more. One Ursa kills Kitai's sister Senshi in front of his eyes at a very young age.
Kitai has a dream where he's talking to Senshi and she looks normal, but then as she yells at him to 'wake up', she turns away and turns back to reveal the side of her face gashed like when she was attacked by the Ursa. The moment she is killed is shown, but from a distance and not in detail.
The movie is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and disturbing images.
One scene that gave me the heebijebees was a part where Kitai runs through a river and comes out to find a massive leech-like creature attached disgustingly to his hand, and it very nearly paralyzes him before he saves himself with a medical kit and fling the parasite off.
But maybe that's just me. I'm the guy who always checks myself coming out of bodies of water for leeches, so...Yucky!
Another part shows Cypher performing a fairly bloody medical procedure on his broken leg.
PART FOUR: RATING AND CONCLUSION
I give the movie three and a half or maybe, maybe four stars. It's worth seeing, it has a few thrills, scares and cool fights etc., but the often irritating quietness and the slowness of the beginning, along with the fairly poor dispersion of action and lack of dialogue, make it a movie I wouldn't watch over and over again. Just once all the way through and another time to skip to the final battle.
I hope you've enjoyed this review and found it helpful! Be sure to check out my other blog posts and watch for more coming in the days ahead!
Peace.
Mat~
