Sunday, December 28, 2008

Movie Review - The Day The Earth Stood Still

It's no secret that I will go see any movie starring Keanu Reeves, so even though I'm not a big sci-fi fan and never saw the original version of this movie I trotted off to the theater for a glimpse of one of my favorite actors and hunks. I'm sure there have been timely adjustments to the story from the 1950s version but I have no idea what they might be so I approached the remake as a novice.

When a huge, glowing spheric globe lands in a park the people of Earth are confronted with a gigantic iron robot named Gort and a handsome, endearing alien known as Klaatu (played by Reeves). As usual, the military is called out while chaos breaks loose with the pathetic earthlings trying to disarm an entity (Gort) who can render all of their tanks and weapons useless with a single light ray. Klaatu is captured and studied by a host of scientists and government officials, including Jennifer Connelly as Helen Benson and the Secretary of State Regina Jackson (an unconvincing Kathy Bates). There's alien/human bonding between Klaatu, Benson and Benson's stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith), desperate preparation for a massive alien attack and a lethal swarm of winged metallic insects who are sent out to destroy human kind in order to save the earth (a strange but interesting concept).

I'm far from the ultimate authority on special f/x, but they seem to be mixed throughout the movie, fluctuating from fun and effective to rather silly. Judging from pictures I've seen from the original film, Gort's appearance has barely been altered for this new version which strikes me as clunky in this age of sophisticated computer enhanced tools. Still, I enjoyed the movie for what it was despite a weak script and some pointless dialogue about the true meaning of it all. It's fair to say, of course, that I probably wouldn't have been quite as entertained had someone other than Keanu been starring as Klaatu.

Things to love about this movie: Its timely and badly needed message about humans changing their destructive ways towards Mother Earth; Keanu in a suit; Jaden Smith's adorable face (even if he's playing a somewhat annoying little kid)
Things to hate about this movie: A pretty lame script; not enough interaction between Klaatu and Benson
Pleasant surprises: Fun seeing those self destructive earthlings bite the dust (must be the misanthrope in me)
Unpleasant surprises: An unsatisfying ending that feels abrupt and pointless

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