Now you don't

Rating: Null/10 (23 March 2014)

'After Earth', I also watched another surprisingly better-than-average (not more) magic-themed movie, 'Now you see me'.
It did serve to get the 'after' taste out, but only just.
The best parts about this one - the casting, the (unfortunately pretentiously) dense plotting (which did not stand well to closer scrutiny, but hey, the film-makers actually joke about that at the very beginning of the film - if you're standing too close, that means...blah blah). I just adore Laurent, and have seen her in everything from 'Basterds' to 'Beginners' to 'Le concert' to 'Je vais bien...' to 'Paris' and she's been mesmerizing in each and every one of those roles, even where she had (relatively) limited screen-time. Then she did this. Even so, for me, she was one of the bright sparks of the whole thing.
Woody Harrelson stands out, as always, as he re-teams with his 'Zombieland' sidekick, who's just here for the paycheck, much like Freeman, Caine and Ruffalo are. Ruffalo gets a meaty mainstream role after a while and he digs into it with glee (as does the other Franco), though he does look befuddled as well, perhaps rightfully. 'The eye' is never fully released, and IMHO, it should have occupied the bulk of the movie, not needing the 'too-pat' speedy denouement it finally receives. Fisher is miscast - 'nuff said.
I missed the relevance of all the plot's twists and turns during the final 20 minutes, and had almost given up on trying to catch up, until the exposition-laden final 6/7 min. Somehow, though it is usually a good thing ('Fallen', 'Frailty', 'Primal fear', 'Fight club' spring to mind), in this case, I did not really care.
However, this was just what the doctor ordered 'After Earth'.....