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The Day The Earth Stood Still (Film)
Rating: M
Running Time: 106
Country: USA
Director: Scott Derrickson
Cast: Kathy Bates, John Cleese, Jennifer Connelly, Keanu Reeves, Jaden Smith
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Film Worth: $8.00
Release Date: December 26, 2008
“…the net result is almost instantly forgettable.”
In which Keanu Reeves plays a blank-faced alien - possibly not the greatest stretch of his career.
This is a remake of the 1951 sci-fi movie, and - as is almost invariably the case with these things - it's much bigger and slicker but nowhere near as good. The story starts in 1928 on a mountain in India, where - as is subsequently explained - extra-terrestrials extract DNA from an earthling before heading off again. Jump to the present day, and they're back, this time touching down in America, in the humanoid form of Klaatu (Reeves) and his gigantic metallic robot ‘bodyguard'. Mysterious spheres start landing all over the planet, and all manner of hell starts to break loose, some of it initiated by panicking locals rather than their uninvited guests.
The central message here is environmental: Klaatu arrives in the capacity of a "friend to the earth", as distinct from a friend to the human race; the powers that be on his planet have decided that we must be sacrificed in order to save lots of other species - which is an eminently sensible suggestion.
The U.S. government of course has other ideas, as articulated by the Defence Secretary (Kathy Bates). But so does astrobiologist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), and the supposed suspense consists of waiting to see if she can melt Klaatu's heart enough to avert global annihilation. And if you think that sounds corny, you should hear the sort of lines John Cleese gets saddled with in his walk-on role as a brilliant professor.
The special effects are spectacular enough here, and there are a few droll lines, but the net result is almost instantly forgettable.