The Day the Earth Stood Still (2009, 20th Century Fox) purchase from Amazon: DVD | Blu-ray
While purists may have shuddered at the thought of someone remaking Robert Wise’s classic science fiction film, The Day the Earth Stood Still, I was among those who looked forward to a modern telling of the story. The original carried a message about human beings getting along, a pointed theme at the height of the Cold War. With the opportunity to incorporate incredible special effects and a new message about the environment, this new The Day the Earth Stood Still looked promising — but the end result is mixed. There are solid performances, some emotional depth that you wouldn’t expect from your typical sci-fi disaster film, and plenty of CGI special effects; still, I came away from The Day the Earth Stood Still a bit disappointed. At times, the film felt like it was trying too hard to live up to the stature of the original film instead of allowing the story to flow. In the end, The Day the Earth Stood Still is a decent ‘B’ movie, but definitely not to the standards you’d expect from a big budget, star studded film.
Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly, and Keanu Reeves star in the movie, directed by Scott Derrickson (who also helmed The Exorcism of Emily Rose). After a pointless prologue in which an explorer (played by Reeves) comes face to face with an extraterrestrial orb in the year 1929, we jump ahead to the present and meet Connelly’s Helen, a scientist and single mother raising her stepson. The boy, Jacob, (played by Jaden Smith) resents Helen; deep down is really hurting because his father, a soldier, died in the Middle East, and his birth mother has been dead for years. These two are stuck with each other whether they like it or not.
One night, Helen is whisked from her home to a secret government lab with a group of other scientists. She soon learns that an alien orb (like the one in the opening, only the size of Central Park) is headed to Earth. The orb lands, an alien steps out of it, and just like in the original, some trigger-happy soldier shoots the space creature. (more…)
Before we begin, allow me to state for the record that I hate remakes. With very rare exceptions, they tend to be lifeless, pale imitations of the classics which came before them.