After Earth (2013)
After Earth is perhaps the most bland film on this entire list. It isnt horrifically bad but theres also very little thats good about it. Perhaps because the story was conceived by star Will Smith as a vehicle for his son Jaden, it also feels the least like a Shyamalan film than all of the others. After Earth isnt particularly weak in any one are. It doesnt have the disastrous twists of The Village or the pretentiousness that destroyed Lady in The Water. Instead, the whole affair just feels half-hearted. None of the emotional scenes really connect, the action sequences are a bit lively but often cliched, and the main performance from Jaden Smith is sorely lacking. Again, as with The Last Airbender, it seems that in tackling a film with a larger scope Shyamalan is in over his head. Thats a shame, because some of the father-son dynamics at work in After Earth should have fallen right into his wheelhouse. The fact that he cant deliver on scenes like that anymore - whether in the writing or the direction - shows how far off course hes come. Nobody was ever going to mistake Shyamalan for the greatest screenwriter alive, but dealing with broken family units was a particular area of strength for him. Not being able to capitalize on that here is a telling sign of how far hes fallen. You can read my full review of After Earth
here.