It must be something to be Will Smith’s son.

Most of our children, when school resumes in the fall, will write essays about what they did this summer: went to the beach, visited cousins, made the Little League all-star team, spent time at Disneyland.

And then there’s Jaden Smith.

“Dad put me in another movie. It was cool.”

Except not really. Some of “After Earth” is intriguing, if you ignore the premise and the story and the direction and much of Jaden Smith’s performance. Other than that. …

M. Night Shyamalan co-wrote the screenplay and directs the film, word of which has come to signal more alarm than excitement these days. (The story is by Will Smith.) “After Earth” is not a disaster of “Last Airbender” proportions, but it’s nowhere near the quality of a film such as “The Sixth Sense.”

The film is set in the future, when mankind has selfishly ruined Earth, which is what mankind tends to do in science-fiction films. (Credit never is given for inventing Wi-Fi or the turducken.) Humans live elsewhere, which is pleasant enough, except that aliens have created these big ugly monsters to chase humans down and kill them.

The only weakness these monsters have is that they are blind. Which seems unlikely. You’re smart enough to invent a freaky monster, but you can’t give him sight? Anyway, the way the creatures find you is to sense your fear. If you don’t exude fear, they can’t find you. (It honestly doesn’t sound that stupid when you see it played out. Or maybe it does.)

The way to survive is to not be afraid, and no one is less afraid than Gen. Cypher Raige (Will Smith). He’s a stone-cold stud, wandering about fearlessly, killing the monsters by just walking up to them and slicing them open.

But like many working fathers, he’s away a lot. His son, Kitai (Jaden Smith), longs to be a ranger in the armed forces Raige leads, but he’s not quite ready. Instead the general takes the boy on a routine mission, as a kind of bonding exercise.

Uh-oh. There’s trouble along the way, and the two wind up on a deserted planet not fit for human habitation. On board their ship, naturally, is one of the monsters, who was going to be used in a ranger-training exercise.

Then the story hobbles Raige, literally. He is incapacitated and must send Kitai out into the dangerous world they’ve landed on to find a distress-signal beacon. And remember, don’t be afraid! Because it’ll get you killed! Bye!

There’s more to it than that, but not a lot. What transpires is utterly predictable, a rote exercise in summer-blockbuster action. Which is not, by itself, a fatal flaw. The real problem is this: It’s more interesting to watch Will Smith sit in a chair and give orders to his son than it is to watch his son carry them out, even if they involve fighting off hungry futuristic creatures.

The jolts are of the jump-out-from-behind-the-door variety; you can see them coming from a long way off, too. Shyamalan seems to no longer have the confidence to let audiences figure things out or the patience to allow them to. This could have been a thoughtful movie about conquering fear, as Kitai has some tragedy in his past he needs to work out, but instead it’s watch out for that giant bird!

That’ll be $9, thanks. Enjoy your show.

Will Smith is an outstanding actor but seems to be in that class of famous people who haven’t heard the word “no” in the past 20 years. Supposedly he turned down the role Jamie Foxx played in “Django Unchained.” Here’s a suggestion: If an opportunity like that comes along again, take it. Send your kid to summer camp. Everyone will be happier.