| The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) By Cherish Hamutoff Published December 14, 2008 The Day the Earth Stood Still is a remake of the 1951 Science Fiction classic starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates and Jaden Smith. Klaatu (Reeves) stars as an alien who stuns the Earth when his giant spaceship lands in NYC. Preeminent scientist Helen Benson (Connelly) thinks she sees kindness in Klaatu and helps him escape when the government (Bates as Regina Jackson) treats him as a hostile. He was sent to warn humans to stop destroying the Earth, and Helen and her son Jacob (Smith) quickly try to convince Klaatu that humankind is worth saving; however it may be too late… At almost two hours long, this thin storyline was stretched to breaking. Just because there is new technology available, doesn’t mean an old film can be remade into a better film. Star Wars is testament to this sentiment. A glowing orb was the focus of this film, along with a big, giant, unfeeling, large gray robot; and everything else was secondary – acting, story, truth, interest, decent dialogue, etc. The producers hired good actors and made bad use of them. Jaden Smith (Will Smith’s son, and good actor in The Pursuit of Happyness) unconvincingly shouted out awkward lines like, “Come on you guys!” “Hurry up!” and such. Oscar winner Kathy Bates plays a flat, one dimensional character who, although acting in place of the President of the United States, comes across as stupid and ignorant. Connelly and Reeves do the best they can, and do fare a bit better than the others, but neither has too much to do or go through. I can enjoy a good disaster movie (Armageddon had its charm, and Independence Day was entertaining), but The Day the Earth Stood Still wasn’t a disaster movie, it WAS a disaster. I felt myself nodding off half-way through and had to shake myself to stay awake. I thought, enough already – blow the Earth up and get on with it! The title should be: The Day the Earth Fell Asleep. All I can do at this point is to offer a warning: don’t waste your money or your time on this flop. Even if you’re stuck in an airplane for 20 hours and this was your only viewing option, you’re too restless to fall asleep, and you don’t have anything to read…please, chat up your seat-mate, whistle the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," or count how many times you blink in an hour, but don’t, don’t, don’t see this movie. Rating: PG-13 Running time: 104 minutes Directed by: Scott Derrickson Written by: David Scarpa; based on the 1951 screenplay by Edmund H. North Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith, John Cleese |