Rarely do actors get to make movies with their children, but Will Smith is a twice-blessed member of this exclusive club, starring in “After Earth,” his second film with son Jaden after the 2006 hit “The Pursuit of Happyness.” “After Earth” is a sci-fi action movie from M. Night Shyamalan that features a father and son who crash-land on Earth and fighting to survive.
A few other Hollywood dads have played father of their children in movies. Martin Sheen played the father to the character portrayed by his real-life son, Emilio Estevez, in “The Way.” Jon Voight played the father of Angelina Jolie’s character in “Tomb Raider,” although these two first appeared together in the 1982 film “Lookin’ to Get Out.” The reigning champion of family film appearances is the Douglas family. Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas, Michael’s son, Cameron Douglas, and Kirk’s ex-wife, Diane Dill, all starred in “It Runs in the Family.” When family members appear in movies together, an element of realism is added that even the best acting cannot create. No doubt, people who watch “After Earth” will empathize more with Will Smith wanting to protect his son from the hostile animal life on the abandoned planet just as the heartbreaking scenes in “The Pursuit of Happyness” were made more tragic by the actors’ real-life bond.
Smith’s character in “After Earth” is a far departure from his role in “The Pursuit of Happyness,” a movie based on true events. His “After Earth” character is similar to his portrayal of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville in “I Am Legend,” in which he is trapped with a single ally on a planet where everything is trying to kill him. Smith’s daughter Willow had a small role in that film, playing Neville’s daughter who dies in a helicopter accident. Audiences can only hope Jaden’s character does not meet a similar fate in “After Earth.”
The events of “After Earth” take place 1,000 years after humans leave the planet to live on Nova Prime, a more welcoming home world that does not have killer animal life. Will Smith plays Cypher Raige, a war hero and general of Nova Prime’s Ranger Corps. He has a unique ability to “ghost,” which lets him turn off fear when fighting aliens called Ursas. Jaden plays his son, Kitai, who is in training to join the Ranger Corps. Unfortunately for them, the creatures of Earth have evolved to be human-killing machines, and with Cypher injured in the crash landing, the young Kitai must go into the wild to discover a way to contact home and get help.
The father and son must also contend with their personal issues. Their relationship was already strained before an entire planet started trying to kill them. Healing the rift was the reason the two left their home planet in the first place, to take an interplanetary father-son bonding trip that gets cut short by an accident that drops them on the most deadly planet in the universe. Now, the famous father must give his son the freedom to become a man while battling his desire to protect him from everything bad on Earth. The struggle of Cypher to allow his teenage son to embark on a dangerous mission reflects the struggle many parents face letting go of their kids so that they can grow into themselves. The film gives father and son the opportunity to explore their own issues as 14-year-old Jaden, a movie and music star in his own right, is getting closer to reaching adulthood. Rumors have been flying around that Jaden wanted emancipation from his parents, a move not unheard of in Hollywood. Juliette Lewis, Drew Barrymore, Courtney Love, Macaulay Culkin, and Michelle Williams are just some of the stars who sought emancipation when they were around Jaden’s age. Some stars do it to get around child-labor laws so that they can work more hours. Other celebrities say they sought emancipation to protect their earnings or themselves from unhealthy parents.
