Review: The Day The Earth Stood Still

The Day The Earth Stood Still
2 Lloyd’s – Not Family-Friendly
PG-13 for some sci-fi disaster images and violence.

 The Day the Earth Stood Still may have moved Four Christmases from the top spot in the box office over the weekend, but, this through-away flick may have a short run in the top ten, and even on the big screen. One theater owner told me the distributors told him the remake of the 1951 sci-fi flick will be replaced by Marley and Me on Christmas Day. That means, for theaters which normally close on Christmas Eve, The Day the Earth Stood Still will only have a week and a half run.

But, that may not be a bad thing. At some portions of this movie it may have been better titled The Day the Movie Stood Still.

I have a feeling Twentieth Century Fox knew they had a turkey on their hands. They pulled out all the stops trying to get media hype surrounding the release of this remake. Last week they referred to The Day the Earth Stood Still as the world’s “first galactic motion picture release”. The film was beamed into space by Deep Space Communications Network located east of Orlando. Bruce Snyder, the president of Twentieth Century Fox domestic distribution said, “We look forward to sharing The Day the Earth Stood Still with our galactic neighbors near Alpha Centauri, and look forward to their feedback, eight years from now.” While the publicity stunt may have pulled a few more people to the theater here on earth, they may not like the response they receive from aliens eight years from now.

The Day the Earth Stood Still is a remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic about a humanoid alien named Klaatu who arrives on Earth accompanied by an indestructible, heavily armed robot. The arrival of Klaatu triggers a global upheavel as governments and scientists race to figure out the mystery behind the visitor’s appearance. Then, in the midst of all the mayhem, a woman and her young stepson get caught up in his mission. The more time they spend with the visitor from outer space, the more they begin to understand the ramifications of his being a self-described “friend of the Earth.”

Keanu Reeves plays Klaatu, and while he puts in an admirable performance as a non-feeling-emotionless-alien-in-a-human-body, in the end, his performance falls flat. If the film distributors were looking for a hook to promote The Day the Earth Stood Still they should have pushed the fact that Jaden Smith, Will’s son, plays the stepson in this movie. The 10 year old Smith puts in an incredible performance as the young boy trying to make sense out of the death of his father, and the actions of his new alien friend. He also comes through as the tipping point for enabling Klaatu to see all is not lost for mankind and earth.

“It’s at the precipice of a bad situation, that we truly find change.”

If you like sci-fi, The Day the Earth Stood Still has lots of sci-fi in it. The space-special-effects are pretty cool and the recurring appearance of strange looking glowing spheres are intriguing as well. But, the acting throughout the flick seems forced, accept for Jaden Smith, and at times the entire movie comes to a stand still. At times it seems the filmmakers are padding the length of the movie by drawing out scenes of Reeves standing in front of a sphere touching it. We get the idea here people, each sphere has meaning. But, did we need to see Klaatu simply touching sphere after sphere for so long? The movie clocks in at close to 2 hours. While I didn’t find myself looking at my watch, I did find myself saying – “Enough already! Move on to the next scene.”

My 16 year old son screened the movie with me and he liked it. However, that’s because of the sci-fi attraction. The Day the Earth Stood Still carries a PG-13 rating, and this is by no means a family-friendly movie. Some of the scenes simply go for a shock factor to possibly jolt the viewer out of boredom. But the shock factor scenes are too intense for a younger audience.

Cautiously enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus