One thing that the film pushed hard was that it starred Will Smith, and his son, Jaden Smith. This can be a bad thing in that it feels like Jaden is forced into viewers' throats. Anyway, it tells of Kitai (Jaden Smith) and his father crash landing into Earth, apparently inhospitable with humans evacuating 1000 years ago. We see Kitai on his journey and he supposedly grows up and learns no fear. Fact? All we see is Kitai's scared face, his journey is pathetic and there are no emotional events that are significant enough to make us believe that he has outgrown his fear. You can substitute Earth for any other place because the film does not play into that theme. The jungle is generic and the monsters/animals are generic. There is a heavy reliance on computer effects and while they are passable in the space sections, once the animals come into play, it distracts your attention as they look obviously computer generated. The trailers played it up to be a father and son journey, instead it's just Kitai as the focus. It tries to be an intense thriller, with dangers everywhere. It failed. It was bland and never elevates from being a mediocre film. It was predictable and the fact that the main character kept being portrayed as scared without overcoming it with a real reason (he just suddenly gets over it int he climax) dragged the whole movie down. The acting was poor with everyone seeming wooden. Obviously, not a fan.
