Random Mexican’s Movie Reviews

Sunday, December 14, 2008
Movie Reviews: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
IN THEATERS



THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL







A remake of the 1951 classic sci-fi film about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth to warn the planet about nuclear war.




Cast: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith




Director: Scott Derrickson




Opened December 12, 2008




Runtime: 1 hr. 50 min.




Rated PG-13 for some sci-fi disaster images and violence




Genres: Alien Film, Science Fiction, Psychological Sci-Fi




Review:




The remake of the classic sci-fi film The Day The Earth Stood Still falls into the sad category of unnecessary reduxs that fail to bring anything new to the table. This heavy handed message movie feels tired and bored with itself. The re-commissioned story line now has an environmental slant instead of its original pacifist message. Poorly scripted and blandly acted this film carry very little dramatic weight and has a few unintentionally funny moments. The cast isn't given much to do but dole out droll dialogue and act as if it's important. Keane Reeves is as wooden as he's ever been here and seems like he would have been more suited to play the robotic automaton Gort. His dialogue is delivered with such blandness that you'd almost wonder if he was asleep with his eyes open. Jennifer Connelly is a gifted actress but there is little she could do to save this character, after all there is only so many ways you can say "We can change." Jaden Smith does a decent job but veers dangerously close to obnoxious from time to time. Jon Hamm, of Mad Men fame, is given even less to do and serves nothing more than window dressing. Kathy Bates suffers the most here with a role that embarrassingly bad. The saddest thing about this film is that there was plenty of potential here if done correctly but this feels more like a Ronald Emmerich film. Gort's towering presence can do nothing to save us from this poor excuse of a remake. The original film was one of the films that peaked my interest in sci-fi at a young age, sadly this remake might scare off a new generation.




D