THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL [PG-13]
review by Padraic Maroney

As the holidays get closer, only two kinds of movies come out: those attempting to achieve Oscar gold (which for the most part aren’t seen by the general public until their New Year rollouts) and the brain candy that lets you forget about maxing out your credit cards at the mall. Which kind of movie is The Day The Earth Stood Still? Let’s just say that Meryl Streep isn’t going to lose any sleep.

Keanu Reeves has been mercilessly ridiculed for his robotic and monotonic acting style. Taking on the role of an alien that comes to save Earth and has no emotional capabilities would therefore seem like a role tailor-made for the enduring action star. In the remake of the 1952 sci-fi classic, Reeves uses the lack of emotions as a way to seem only more vacant than usual.

When surrounded by actors who are able to complement him, such as multi-film co-stars Charlize Theron and Sandra Bullock, Reeves shortcoming aren’t all that obvious. But here, he and Jennifer Connelly lack any kind of chemistry — not for a lack of trying on her part (and she actually has an Oscar). Connelly is actually the only actor who gives any kind of depth to the paper-thin characters. With accomplished actors like Kathy Bates, Kyle Chandler and Jon Hamm in tow, it is Connelly who is carrying the film and keeping us from tuning out completely.

In the remake, Atomic Anxiety is replaced with the ghoul that is Global Warming. Alien-in-human’s clothing Klaatu (Reeves) is sent to Earth to assess whether we are worth saving or if the universe is better off without humans. A slightly over-the-top Bates plays the Secretary of Defense who has obviously watched “Independence Day” one too many times and assumes Klaatu to be hostile. What they don’t realize is the robot named G.O.R.T. who came to Earth with him is the real foreigner to fear.

What serves this loose remake the most is that special effects have improved greatly in the last fifty years. Rather than getting a G.O.R.T. that looks like a robotic Power Ranger, the update has a robot that actually looks menacing. Not to mention when the G.O.R.T. executes his program, the CGI capabilities bring a hugely palpable sense of dread to the film.

In the last act when everything finally boils over is when the film finally gives audiences something on which to grab hold. Other than the general knowledge that the world is in danger, there isn’t really much suspense and Connelly’s Dr. Benson takes her time in actually finding out what are Klaatu’s intentions for the planet.

Before we get to the third act, a number of belief suspending moments occur. In some movies, it might be the kiss of death, but somehow, “The Day The Earth Stood Still” makes an illogical plot work because you get the feeling that the cast and director Scott Derrickson know they aren’t making anything for the ages. Perhaps it’s because there isn’t enough for us to heavily invest in, so we just go along for the ride hoping that things will make some kind of sense in the end; many of them don’t and you could have an hour long conversation discussing these issues if it were worth it.

Among the things that might make you question whether it’s worth it is the addition of the precocious kid this time around. Jacob, played by Jaden Smith (Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s son) is supposed to be the cute, funny kid that eventually tugs on your heartstrings. Smith’s acting ability is not to be questioned (because the kid has skills), but the part just doesn’t work. The jokes fall flat, leaving him to come off as a bitter, angry child who feels abandoned by his dead father. When he finally has an epiphany and changes his ways, it happens so fast that we don’t have time to adjust. Instead it ends up just leaving a bad taste.

The movie limps into its third act before finally giving us the cool effects and sequences that we want to see. The sum of the movie’s parts are not enough to make you need to rush out to the theater. Since you’ll already be at the mall with throbbing feet, there worse things to see, but there are also much more entertaining ones as well. Is it worth making your mind standing still for two hours? The choice is yours.•••

Padraic Maroney is a regular contributor to the national network EDGE.