The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Day the Earth Stood Still - Dir. Scott Derrickson (2008)


I’m not entirely opposed to the idea of remakes. One of my favorite movies of all time, The Magnificent Seven, is a remake and I thought Jet Li’s Fist of Legend, a remake of Bruce Lee’s The Chinese Connection, was a better film than the original. If you are going to remake a film, then at least take your version in a different direction. I can’t think of anything more pointless than Gus Van Sant’s ill-advised shot-for-shot remake of Psycho. To many cinephiles, remaking classics such as Psycho is like treading on holy ground. Fox’s modern production of The Day the Earth Stood Still shows exactly what is wrong with the majority of remakes. It may have a bigger budget and better special effects, but it lacks the soul of the original.

While the original version was made at a time when the Cold War and nuclear armament was at its nascent point, the remake takes on more environmental themes. In both films, an alien named Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) lands his spaceship in the middle of Central Park. He’s accompanied to Earth by a massive robot named Gort, who looks remarkably like the Justice League Unlimited version of Amazo. No sooner does Klaatu set foot on Earth than he is shot and taken into custody by the U.S. government. He escapes from a military hospital with help from a micro-biologist named Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly). He befriends Benson and her step-son, Jacob (Jaden Smith), revealing that his plan to save the Earth involves wiping out all of humanity.

The casting of Keanu Reeves as the alien visitor is actually an inspired choice. Reeves’ wooden, monotone performance is perfect for the role. Michael Rennie’s Klaatu was warm, intelligent, and shown to be more human than the very humans he met. Reeves’ Klaatu is cold and detached. Not that I blame him, nearly everyone he meets is an idiot. The government and the military have a shoot first, don’t bother to ask questions policy. However, there’s a difference between making the characters misguided and making them stupid beyond reason. This is where we come to Jacob played by Will Smith’s son, Jaden, who made his film debut with daddy in The Pursuit of Happyness. His performance here isn’t that terrible, but his character is so annoying that no matter what he does, you just want to smack him in the back of the head.

While the remake as gathered an impressive collection of actors for its supporting cast, they are completely wasted by the weak, preachy script. Jennifer Connelly practically sleepwalks through her role and while I enjoyed seeing Jon Hamm, Kyle Chandler, and Robert Knepper, I’d rather see them on their respective shows (Mad Men, Friday Night Lights, Prison Break). About the only scenes that come close to popping are the brief heart-to-heart conversations Klaatu has with James Hong (as a fellow alien) and John Cleese (as a Nobel-prize winning scientist).

Rating: * ½