The Day the Earth Stood Still
Movie Review
The Day the Earth Stood Still
by Eric D. Snider
Grade: C-
Released: December 12, 2008
Directed by:
Cast:
"The Day the Earth Stood Still," from 1951, is considered a sci-fi classic in part because it eschewed the cheesy "invaders from Mars!" B-movie tropes of that era and didn't have a lot of action -- its focus was its ideas. The new remake, predictably, has washed out most of those ideas, but there still isn't much action. Which is pretty strange -- the one thing Hollywood can usually be counted on to do when remaking old films, especially when dumbing them down, is to boost their action quotient, and these guys have failed to do even that.
The new screenplay, by David Scarpa ("The Last Castle"), bears only a superficial resemblance to the original, with a few details included as a nod to the fans. The story concerns Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), a Princeton astrobiology professor who is summoned -- more accurately abducted -- by the U.S. government, along with experts in several other fields, when an unidentified flying object is discovered to be hurtling toward Earth. It turns out to be a spaceship, which lands in Central Park and whose occupants are Klaatu (Keanu Reeves), a human-looking extra-terrestrial, and his 35-foot robot bodyguard.
Klaatu, having been shot upon landing his UFO in Manhattan (New York parking enforcement is hardcore), is taken into custody by the military and questioned by Secretary of Defense Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates), who naturally wants to know what he's doing here and why he brought that giant robot with him. People who travel with giant robots are seldom to be trusted. Klaatu says he has a message, but he'll only deliver it to all the nations of the world at once, not just one measly leader of one measly country. He also urges his captors to let him go.
He's on the loose soon enough, don't you worry -- aided by Helen Benson, who believes he means us no harm, and by Helen's stepson, Jacob (Jaden Smith), who is much more skeptical. "They didn't come here to hurt us!" Helen tells him. He replies, "We should kill them anyway, just to be sure." I believe that's as subtle as the film gets in its commentary on international diplomacy.
It's even more heavy-handed in other areas. Those ideas that the original film had, the ones that aren't really present in the remake? They've been replaced by a generic "save the Earth" message that's so hollow and mishandled it would embarrass even Greenpeace.
In the acting department, not much is required of Connelly other than looking awestruck and worried, and she handles that with the usual aplomb, while young Jaden Smith shows off the sassy attitude he picked up from his Fresh Prince father, who knows a thing or two about chasing aliens himself. Good actors like John Cleese, Kyle Chandler, Robert Knepper, Jon Hamm, and James Hong are used for a few scenes apiece as scientists, colonels, and other alien-invasion-movie stock characters, then set aside. Meanwhile, as Klaatu, Keanu Reeves uses the fact that his character is an alien as an excuse to be even more wooden than usual, if such a thing is possible. He's not inscrutable. He's boring.
The first half of the film feels like it's building to something, creating tension for an inevitable clash, and director Scott Derrickson ("The Exorcism of Emily Rose") finds suspense in the scenes involving the military's interaction with the giant robot. The disappointment is when that clash never really comes, or at least not in great measure. The film builds to nothing, in other words -- very little action, very few ideas, very little to recommend it. To paraphrase the original, klaatu barada nothankyou.
(Note: At no point in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" does the Earth stand still.)
Grade: C-
Rated PG-13, a little profanity, a little sci-fi violence
1 hr., 43 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 23 comments
December 11, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Boring??? Not MY Keanu!
December 11, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Keanu Reeves, without fail, looks constipated in every role he plays. I feel sorry for you, that, because of your profession you are forced to watch anything that he is in. I remember when my brother told me he once played Hamlet. I laughed until it hurt. And then, I found out he was serious. And, I laughed even harder. I'm pretty sure Keanu learned to hone his craft from the Shatner Acting Academy, along with; Paris Hilton, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Alba and Freddie Prinze Jr. I mean, come on people, why are they making millions instead of where they should be, making my subway sandwich?
December 12, 2008 at 5:31 am
Along with the lunatic decision to make an American version of "My Life on Mars" (is it still on? I don't watch broadcast TV anymore), the fact that Hollywood felt there was any need to re-make/"update" what is arguably the best sci-fi film EVER just goes to show how creatively bankrupt the folks in LA are these days.
Maybe next they can "re-make" "Brief Encounter" -- but THIS time the two main characters can really HAVE an affair. It is "the new millennium" after all. . .
December 12, 2008 at 5:36 am
"klaatu barada nothankyou"
That is a CLASSIC Sniderism if I ever read one. I want to Photoshop that onto one of the movie posters for the film!
December 12, 2008 at 7:03 am
Save us, Don Draper. Save us from the hippie alien overlords.
December 12, 2008 at 9:46 am
"At no point in 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' does the Earth stand still."
"The Day the Earth Turned Slower" then?
December 12, 2008 at 11:29 am
In the original, the earth "stood still" by Klaatu arranging to have all the electrical power in the world cut off for half an hour as a "demonstration" of the power he possessed to eradicate the world if necessary. It sounds like the new film doesn't bother with the demonstration but goes straight to the destruction as the demonstration. I haven't seen it yet, and now I'm not sure I should waste my money, or my time, on it. Rats! We've actually be anticipating this one; what a monumental disappointment to find that it's getting such bad reviews everywhere!
I saw, on one of the cartoon series my kids watched years ago, that some space aliens came down and interacted with the main characters of the series. Their names: Klaatu, Barada, and Nickto. I cringed. Now I'm not so sure I wouldn't rather watch that cartoon again rather than go to the movie.....
DaleD
December 13, 2008 at 11:12 am
The Day The Earth Missed The Point
December 13, 2008 at 10:10 pm
review 1
Well, I hardly know where to begin. Was it the writing?
The direction? The Acting or the lack there of. Thank God for Kathy Bates. Speaking of ... was it the fact that she was far outshining the alleged star that some part of the 20th Century machine had a secret meeting with wardrobe and said: “make sure You fit her with a really bad wig”. I’m just astounded by the depth of badness this film has achieved. And not like it would be fun to watch again bad, i.e. ‘Plan 9 from outer space’, but bad as in when it’s released to TV, I would rather watch an infomercial.
December 13, 2008 at 10:11 pm
review 2
I don’t want to thwart the studios attempts to make some money off this to help pay for the ridiculous special effects. By all means go and see for Yourself. The best bit of acting from Keanuu came when he was trying to drink water. I know it must have taken allot out of him. As a suggestion for his next role he should consider
remaking the TV series Kung Fu. Forgive them Robert Wise, they know not what the heck they’re doing and have not learned from the master of his craft.
December 13, 2008 at 10:11 pm
review 3
I should have known it was going to be bad from the get when within 10 minutes of starting my sons and I turned it into a live science fiction theatre 3000. While filing out of the theatre We were discussing the highlights and favorite scenes. We all agreed that when Keanuu got the tuna sandwich and then when into the bathroom and collapsed, someone called out, ‘bad tuna’. That was pretty funny. So maybe I take it back. Maybe this movie does deserve a second viewing. Only this time, asap, We’ll give it the full SciFi 3000 treatment it deserves.
December 13, 2008 at 10:12 pm
review 4
As a consolation for fans of the original movie I can tell You this was NOT a remake. This was an entirely different movie. They just slapped a few scenes in there that were similar. Lifted a few character names but by no means the character. They certainly left the old message intact by developing a script that had more in common with Al Gore’s ‘an Inconvenient truth’ and outright stole the title, The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Come to think of it, I can’t help but wonder if they had to go in and re-shoot the last scene because someone must have pointed out that at no point during the movie did anything actually stand still.
Well at least they justified steeling the title but there still refuses to be any explicable reason why everything came to a stop other than the movie was over and everybody turned to eachother and said: “is that it?” Like one of those movies You keep watching, hoping it will offer one good reason to Your wallet yet invariably feeling You fell victim to a clever bamboozle.
I would think that the makers of the original should sue but they’re the same people. All I can tell You is, You keep going to the same place for pizza cause they make the best. Then one day the pizza maker leaves and You know the difference, and it ain’t no good, not much unlike this sorry excuse for a movie.
December 13, 2008 at 10:13 pm
review 5
Within a millisecond of the first credit showing my son spoke out loud: “that was the worst movie I’ve ever sat through”. We also went to see Dee Snyder’s ‘StrangeLand’. Not that that was good, but it was better. The entire way home I kept trying to put into words where the production went awry. He was obviously in shock. He kept interrupting my train of thought with “that was the worst movie I’ve ever sat through” as though he were permanently scarred. Upon arrival home he said: “I wanna watch the old one right away so I can get this one out of my head”.
December 13, 2008 at 10:14 pm
review 6
My heart was so into it. Like any good love affair gone by the way, perhaps my expectations were too high. The entire ordeal of this screenplay can easily be summed up in the first miss strokes of the brush. As the audience braces for certain destruction from a deep space impact there is just as suddenly, no money shot, no pay off. Baited and Waiting for the big impact and then it never came. In the midst of making love my lover passed out. Quite the disappointment.
I won’t be calling again any time soon.
December 13, 2008 at 10:24 pm
The Day The Earth Stood Stymied
December 14, 2008 at 12:32 pm
"In the midst of making love my lover passed out."
I can certainly say that's the first time I've heard a movie described using that phrase.
December 14, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Michael M,
You seem to have cared deeply about this movie. I share your grief, though not your pain, as I have not (and probably won't) seen it.
Lohengrin
December 14, 2008 at 10:37 pm
The Day The 20th Century Fox Dropped The Ball...Again.
My thoughts...
A film made purely as an IMAX visual demo, perhaps?
Keanu Reeves trademark "wooden" acting was an inspired choice for the perfect depiction of an alien-in-a-human's-body, no?
Witness the un-clever and shameless product placement!
As the credits rolled, trying to make sense of what I saw, I thought to myself was it an advert with a film inbetween?
Questionnable remake aside, was that the point of this film?
And, yes I realise, I won't be getting back the $20 I paid to see this drivel, let alone the 97 mins of my life. I still want answers though!
December 15, 2008 at 11:53 am
"the fact that Hollywood felt there was any need to re-make/"update" what is arguably the best sci-fi film EVER just goes to show how creatively bankrupt the folks in LA are these days"
I don't know. I hear they made a Batman remake that was pretty good.
December 17, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I have yet to see this, but from the reviews and tv commercials, it seems like this: DX (if you don't get it, tilt your head to the right and look at it as if the X were eyes and the D was a mouth)
from the descriptions, I'd conclude that a cheesy black and white movie called "Teenagers From Outer Space" would be more worth someone's time. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, the 'aliens' run around with lasers that set bushes on fire and turn people into very fake looking skeletons, who came to earth to use it for feeding grounds for 'Gorgons' (lobsters) that seem to grow huge (but are obviously just held closer to the camera).
December 20, 2008 at 1:30 am
I just saw this movie not an hour ago. Without rehashing the films faults (which are MANY!) I do have to say that in the "remake" (word used loosely) the Earth Stands Still in exactly the same way it does in the original. I'm not trying to cause a ruckus...I'm just saying.
February 3, 2009 at 11:07 am
What a boring, pointless film. I mean, stuff happened but I didn't care about any of it.
Did anybody else want to smack the kid? The only emotion I got from the film is that the kid was way annoying, while everyone else was just boring.
April 7, 2009 at 1:30 pm
What a train wreck. Appalling writing. The first act was 42 minutes. Klaatu escaped only to go back again. Helen was taken in the helicopter only to be let go again. Regina was obstinate only to change her mind. This was a bad five-paragraph essay, with pictures.