The Day the Earth Stood Still

Synopsis

This film is a remake of Robert Wise’s 1951 sci-fi classic. Keanu Reeves (Matrix triology) stars as Klaatu, a representative of an alien race is sent to Earth to warn humans of an impending global crisis they have inflicted on their own planet. He really has a low regard for humans and doesn’t believe they are truly worth saving. Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly, Blood Diamond) and her stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness) try to convince him otherwise.

Review

The Day the Earth Stood Still has great special effects, especially compared to the original 1951 film. Wow, have you seen the original recently? It’s soooo funny to watch how technology has changed. That’s a little bit of an unfair comparison, but even with three decades of new technology, the creaters of this redo did very little that made it any more entertaining. The 2008 remake’s story, dialogue and entire movie is not really better. It’s kind of corny. I wasn’t totally bored. I just thought it had a lot of jive moments. The Day the Earth Stood Still is a storyline that I don’t think is going to translate very well any time into our futures, either.

Okay, here’s the scoop. A spherical orb like spaceship lands on earth. An alien named Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) walks out of it after traveling across the universe to warn the humans of an imminent global disaster. A renowned astrobiologist, Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) finds herself having a weird bond with the alien and realizes that Klaatu’s claim of being a “friend to the Earth” actually means he is only there to save the Earth from the humans. Earthlings must be killed to save planet earth. The aliens cannot allow humans to destroy Earth’s natural environment. Ooooh, but Earth’s destiny comes down to Helen and her stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith) to change Klaatu’s mind...and they just happen to be in Manhattan...where Klaatu decides to land his butt...mmmm hmmmm.

As you may have guessed, this sounds kind of stupid to me. However, that’s just me. I just went with it knowing it’s a Sci-Fi film. I used my imagination. With my fantasy mind switch turned on, I still wasn’t feeling this flick. It is NOT going to be in my top 10 movies for 2008 that is for sure. This is definitely a worthless remake.

One positive thing (besides some pretty good computer graphics) is Keanu Reeves part. He was PERFECT to play an alien. Keanu always has that stiff and robotic voice. Hi my name is Kee-on-new. He’s also great at giving that blank taut stare. Not sure if this is a compliment, peeps.

The chemistry with the cast has no fizzle. It’s like opening a brand new 2 liter of Pepsi and it’s just flat. You don’t hear that loud psssssst sound or get that resistance when taking off the top and when you finally do the liquid just fizzles with tons of bubbles like an alka-selter was dropped right down in the bottle. Yep…That alka-selter Pepsi fizz is nowhere to be found amongst the actors. It’s ridiculous. The relationship between Jacob (Jaden) and Helen (Jennifer) is just flat. So disappointing. The arguments didn’t feel like they had years of relationship behind them.

Oh—and I felt NOTHING for the characters. I didn’t feel any type of impending doom even though the film tried to deliver it. I guess the delivery truck (full of Pepsi) broke down on its way to the theater.

Anyhoo, there are so many times I said my usual statement – “COME ON NOW!”. Okay, I have to just give one thing away with a question, and it preceeds my “COME ON NOW” statement. My question is: “If some large looking meteor or spaceship or whatever is moving full speed ahead with the prediction it’s headed for Central park, why I ask does Helen—a puny scientist—walking ahead of the guys with guns (the military) to walk towards a strange large orb and reach out to a strange being (Klaatu) walking out from it COME ON NOW! There are about ten or more of these COME ON NOW moments throughout this movie.

The best part of The Day for me is GORT—the humongous metal looking alien that appears a couple of times. Its presence is daunting and the remake of this character puts the old one to shame. Watch thsi movie, and then see the old one—seeing Gort’s pants crinkle as he walked was just too hilarious.

People, I wasn’t feeling this flick at all. Yes, I tried to get into it and allow myself to go with it. I was trying to be positive. All I can come up with is, The Day the Earth Stood Still is just flat. You can wait to rent this one.

My Rating ~ 2 Reels

Audience Rating (What's Yours?)