Review of The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) by Tom K — 26 Jul 2012

Monday, July 23, 2012.

(2008) The Day The Earth Stood Still.

SCIENCE-FICTION/ SOCIAL COMMENTARY.

Right at the beginning, somewhere on the Arctic Circle has Keanu Reeves who as an ordinary citizen discovering a frozen sphere and upon cracking it open with his pixie ax gets himself engulfed- then the bright light covers the screen. Then the movie sets somewhere in the United States in the urban city recalling several of the United States top paid scientists and theorists where they're gathered together to express their diagnosis regarding several spheres hitting the earth. One of those top scientists happens to be Helen Benson played by Jennifer Connelly who studies alien tissue etc... and she's also one of few who have access to the Keanu Reeves character taken over by an alien naming itself Klaatu. Now while I was watching this film, I was like who was the Reeves character before the alien took his body over- the movie never explains for it's irrevelent since it's main objective as viewers find out that it was sent to send a message that the purpose of the spheres was to save the earth from being destroyed by any human that's living. After this introduction, the rest of the film has both Connelly and Reeves running away and escaping from government authorities.

Before seeing this film, one of my brothers who hadn't seen the original expressed that this was a movie that he liked and it's a proven fact that this is in no way shape or form better than the 1951 version of the same name but if it's looked at the perspective without the original one watched at all, then the film can be interpreted as passable entertainment since it's direction is completely different with the message being exactly the same as the original which speaks almost like an environmental film about waste conservation and less wars etc... then the planet earth can last another billion years. Some of it's weaknesses are the one-note, narrow minded/ bull headed Kathy Bates character as 'Secretary of Defense' since the President is in hiding who appears to be very artificial as well as some of the other characters around the two main leads of Connelly and Reeves. The ending is one of the weakest, yet uninspiring I had ever saw since it never showed the overall human change only that one or a few people is capable of it meaning that no one ever changes their opinion about the unethical choices that they had made is almost idiotic! Anyways, the scenes that did work was when the Connelly character visits her dead military husband at the cementary with the son played by Jaden Smith was well handled- it's just the other parts that need more work!

2.5 out of 4.