Smith and son fall short in After Earth

After Earth Columbia ★★ out of five

Remember the days when movies written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan used that fact in their ads? Following the success of The Sixth Sense back in 1999, he was Hollywood’s new master of suspense. And even though he had a string of mediocre-at-best films in the next decade (Unbreakable, The Village, Lady in the Water), studios still banked on his name.

Imagine my surprise to see his name as writer-director of After Earth, a fact that seemed left out of the entire marketing campaign.

This movie is clearly not about Shyamalan, though. It stars Will Smith and his son Jaden and is produced by Will, wife Jada Pinkett Smith and her brother Caleeb.

But if the family was looking for a star vehicle for 15-year-old Jaden (Will even came up with the story for the film), they should have kept looking. Will seems completely out of step as stoic futuristic general Cypher Raige who has led a human species (which evacuated Earth) back from the brink of extinction. And while clearly having a good deal of his dad’s talent, Jaden doesn’t show much in this film in a likely familiar role of son trying to live up to his father’s reputation. Besides, they’re both handcuffed by an all-too-predictable plot that sees father and son stranded on future Earth.

It looks beautiful throughout, but when you know how it’s going to end, lush jungle scenery doesn’t solve the problem.

The special features actually produced more smiles. Throughout various incarnations of extras, you get to watch the elder and younger Smith interact — Will acting like the goofball most of the movie-going public knows and Jaden showing he can give just as good as he can take. Perhaps next time the Smiths want to show off their son’s talent, a role closer to himself might be a good start.

— Tim Switzer

The League: Season 4 FX ★★★★

Some shows just seem to find the right mix to make you laugh, warm your heart and make you smile about all the good things in life.

The League, however, only bothers with one of those things. This raunchy, consistently funny show about six friends bonding over their fantasy football league continues to score after four seasons — short seasons (there have been only 45 episodes over that span) mind you — and doesn’t show many signs of slowing down.

This season finds married couple Kevin and Jenny welcoming a new addition to the family (his unofficial name is a great gag that runs throughout the 13-episode season), Kevin’s laissez-faire brother Taco sitting on a gold mine and Andre, Pete and Ruxin still finding laughs in every scene.

The League, given its storyline, is often referred to as a guy’s show, but you don’t necessarily have to be a football fan to enjoy it (though it sometimes helps). It also walks a perfect line between being accessible to new fans jumping in later in the game without overly complicated continuing plot lines while also offering longtime fans nuggets of hilarity with references to previous episodes (the appearance of Mr. McGibblets this season is particularly satisfying. And yes, contrary to what I just wrote I know only fans will understand that reference).

The special features give viewers a good glimpse about how this largely improvised show comes together and gives you a sense of how often the actors make one another laugh on set. That’s something that shows through in their chemistry in the final cut. Some features, however, fall short.

Despite feature titles that will alone make fans laugh, they’ll quickly find some are just repackaged bits from the episodes you just watched.

— Tim Switzer

Luther (Season 3) BBC ½ ★★★★

While the third season in the Luther series provides some intriguing and suspenseful storylines, what really makes this show is its dedication to character.

At the heart is title character John Luther, a brilliant, unconventional and hard-nosed cop with heart — think Sherlock Holmes meets Dirty Harry. It would be easy to turn John Luther into something of a caricature akin to what we frequently see in numerous Hollywood flicks. (And truthfully, it’s strangely satisfying to watch Luther trying to elicit answers about a homicide by dangling a sleazy guy over the edge of a balcony.)

But what makes John Luther different — and believably human — is some quality writing, direction and, in no small part, series lead Idris Elba, who was fittingly nominated several times for awards for this role before landing a Golden Globe in 2012 for his acting in the series. Elba’s Luther runs the gamut of emotion in Season 3’s four episodes, including a particularly heart-wrenching scene in the third episode.

Elba is backed up by a well-cast group of characters, including Scottish actor David O’Hara as the yin to Luther’s yang, George Stark — an “unretired” cop who is relentless in his pursuit of Luther, who he suspects to be a dirty cop and a killer. The toe-to-toe moments between Luther and Stark are some of the best moments in the series, and the only real disappointment for me was the way the storyline between these two characters wrapped up.

All in all, Luther Season 3 is absolutely gripping and, at times, so suspenseful it’s like watching a good scary movie. The first episode literally had me checking under my bed.

— Heather Polischuk

South Park: The Complete Sixteenth Season (Blu-ray) Comedy Central ★★★ ½

Sixteen years is a long time to be on the air, but that hasn’t stopped South Park from staying both hilarious and culturally relevant.

Although it started out with simple toilet humour, the series has evolved into some of the best satire you can find on TV. The toilet humour is still there of course, literally in the case of Season 16’s first episode.

The new Blu-ray contains all 14 episodes of Season 16, which are just as enjoyable to watch the second time around. This being South Park, no subject matter is off the table. This season the show takes aim at Lance Armstrong’s drug use, reality TV star Honey Boo Boo, Internet meme culture and the TSA. Although in South Park’s world, the TSA (Toilet Safety Administration) is tasked with making everyone’s bathroom time as public and humiliating as possible.

Extra features on the Blu-ray are pretty scant. There’s some deleted scenes and mini-commentaries by series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and that’s about it. While the commentaries offer some insight into their process, I would have liked to see more of what went into making Season 16.

Those complaints aside, if you’ve stayed a fan of South Park this long you’re probably too committed to pass up this Blu-ray.

The content is often disgusting and at the same time socially poignant, which is what I expect from South Park to keep delivering in Season 17.

— Mark Melnychuk