Review of The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) by Edward B — 09 Aug 2011

Jennifer Connolly, Keanu Reeves, Jaden Smith, and Jon Hamm do whatever they can to make The Day The Earth Stood Still entertaining, but they can't do enough to cover up how poorly made this film is. Plain and simple, The Day The Earth Stood Still is a piece of crap, an epic failure on so many accounts.

For one, the effects are atrocious. The CGI bits scream fake, especially the big machine thingy that is supposed to protect Klaatu (Reeves) and destroy the world. It's very hard to care about what happens when you're laughing at how cartoonish everything looks.

The story makes no sense. So, Klaatu has decided that the human race must be destroyed in order for the planet Earth to continually exist. His reasoning is uninformed at best. SPOILER ALERT!!! All that it takes for him to change his mind is Jennifer Connolly hugging her son out of love. So, humans are capable of love and thus worth saving. If he had been watching humans live for as long as he claims he has, he would have realized that a long time ago and saved himself the trip, and me the wasted two hours I spent sitting through this crap.

Also, the Kathy Bates character is a walking cliche. The ignorant, power-tripping government official who doesn't understand her enemy, and her ignorance fucks everyone over. Uh huh. Real originality on her characterization.

Okay. I'm complaining too much. Skip this one at all costs. It's a terrible, boring, and underwhelming remake of a dated 1951 original.