Unwelcome visitor

Back to the movies we go and this time it's for the remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic, The Day The Earth Stood Still.

When I first heard that this remake was coming, I was generally intrigued. A lot of that was due to the fact that I had just seen the original in a film class. I was impressed with the way that film, like so many of the sci-fi films of that era used out of this world creatures as an apt metaphor for the Red Scare. It fed into audiences' fear of the unknown to make a truly scary movie. With all of the important issues going on in our world today, I was interested to see how they would make this update appropriate for our current time. Unfortunately, they decided to forego coming up with an appropriate methaphor and focused on more important things like finding a cool way to depict the destruction of Giants stadium.

As in the orignal, Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) arrives in an alien spacecraft on Earth with a warning to the human race. Jennifer Connelly plays Helen, the astrobiologist who first meets Klaatu and strikes up an odd bond with him. She's hopeful of finding a way to convince Klaatu not to destroy all of humanity. Also along for the ride is her step-son Jacob (Jaden Smith) who is not as willing to listen to what Klaatu has to say.

You see, Klaatu is going to kill off all human life because they are detrimental to themselves and the planet. In the 1951 version, you can see how the fearmongering and Communist witch hunts would appear to an outsider like humanity was destroying itself. And today, there are certainly plenty of reasons why you could blame humanity for the way the world is. Things like the war on terror, global warming, and addiction to technology all reveal the dark side of humanity. If this film had chosen any one of those and focused on it, the message would have more resonance. Instead the film takes a generic, humans are bad and must be eradicated approach.

Rather than trying to make the audience think, the film distracts you with a bunch of superflous visual effects. Sure the glowing orbs across the earth and the nanobot storm eating any non-living thing look cool but they don't add any gravitas to the film. If I wanted eye candy, I would just go watch a Roland Emmerich film. At least there, I know I'm not getting any substance, so I won't be disappointed.

The one cool visual that does add to the film, though, is their version of Gort, the robot that protects Klaatu and his ship. While the 1951 film had a guy in a silver rubber suit (I don't think metal bends that way), this director creates a visually stunning creatures that truly elicts the fear that the original should have, but didn't. Their interpretation of Gort is the best thing about the film (although I rolled my eyes over the fact that Gort this time is an acronym created by the Army).

But for as much as I liked their interpretation of Gort, I was equally dismayed by their treatment of the Professor Barnard character. In the original, Barnard is the voice of rational thought in an irrational situation and also helps Klaatu better understand humanity. Here, his inclusion is shoehorned into the story and doesn't really add anything. John Cleese is wasted here in the role neither providing any comic relief nor any real words of wisdom to justify the character's inclusion. If you had never seen the original, you would wonder why this scene was even included in this version.

As disappointed as I was about the film's failure to pick an issue to use drive its message, that can be overlooked if the film does a good job at providing an emotional and meaningful climax to the story. But as you may have guessed, this doesn't do it. First of all, the action that causes Klaatu to change his mind about humanity is so basic and ordinary, you begin to wonder why it took so long for him to figure out that humans have the capicity to be compassionate. The film builds things up to make it seem like there's something special about Helen and/or Jacob that Klaatu will see, but their actions are not unlike most average humans. It's truly baffling why that moment creates the change in Klaatu's perspective.

Then as the film ends we aren't given a proper sense of the aftermath. Will humanity change? What, if any, lessons have they learned from this experience? The whole climax is as emotionless as Klaatu himself. I'm left wondering what I'm supposed to take away from any of this.

Like a lot of movies that came out this past Winter, it seems this one may have been a victim of the writer's strike. There were just too many poorly constructed or underwritten scenes. You feel like if the script had gone through one more revision, a lot of the problems could have been tightened up. While I can give some other films some slack for this, this film shouldn't haven't had those problems. First, it's a remake, so you already have the core script ready. Secondly, the film was originally supposed to be released in the summer, so this may have been a case of too much tinkering instead of not enough.

Regardless of the reason, this is a disappointing film to anyone who saw the original. And if you haven't, I can't see it being very enjoyable for you either. The whole thing has a very dour tone that never eases up. This film is neither scary nor uplifting. This alien invasion feels more like your mother-in-law having an overextended stay. You just want them to leave so we can go back doing our regular thing. Everyone will be better off just going out and finding the original rather than wasting your time with this disappointing redux. Grade: C