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A redo of the 1951 Cold War era science fiction tale, The Day the Earth Stood Still has, like any remake, had to put up with complaints from fans of the original - "Why sully its reputation?" "What's the point of remaking it?" "Keanu?! You must be kidding." And so on. The usual prejudice against remakes isn't completely deserved, though - some great films have been remakes (John Carpenter's The Thing, The Magnificent Seven, De Palma's Scarface, for example), and the logic for re-treading similar ground isn't always without merit. It is slightly depressing, admittedly, that instead of coming up with something original Hollywood feels the need to dredge up past successes, but that's the nature of the business. There's little point in simply comparing this particular remake with the original; the most important thing is whether the film works on its own terms. Thankfully, casting off fears that it would recall the title of a certain Futurama episode (The Day the Earth Stood Stupid) rather than the 1950s classic, the 2008 incarnation of The Day the Earth Stood Still is a satisfactory, if not particularly special, diversion.
One of the reasons it works is - seriously - Keanu Reeves. Much like Schwarzenegger playing the Terminator, the character here suits Keanu's, er, unique talents to a tee. He's emotionally blank and virtually expressionless, which is perfect for playing an extraterrestrial interloper with mysterious motives. Much like Arnold in Terminator 2, Keanu's Klaatu is a basically friendly type, but there remains just enough uncertainty in his actions and purpose that it builds some decent suspense. His relationship with the young Jacob, played by Will Smith's son Jaden (who stole The Pursuit of Happyness from under his dad's nose), is engagingly played without teetering into gushy sentimentality. Jennifer Connolly is also along for the ride, and although she's lumbered with a largely thankless role she does reliably well (she's probably the only actress who can convincingly pull off the combination of brainy and beautiful). John Cleese, in a rare non-comedic part, shows up for five minutes in which he proves that he deserves more of a chance with such material.
At the reigns is Scott Derrickson, director of the underrated The Exorcism of Emily Rose, who pleasingly does not give in to the urges to have explosions going off every five minutes; like the original, it's actually quite slow-paced yet engrossing. Its only major submission to blockbuster expectation comes in its CGI-smothered finale where things go a bit haywire, but impressively so. Its environmental message is one that Al Gore would approve of, but it sits on the fence too much to really make a point: it never actually accuses anyone, and ultimately concludes that the human race is wonderful and deserves to live. It's hardly likely to have a lasting legacy, then, but 20th Century Fox would gladly just settle for some quick dough, as after a shocking year they're badly in need of a hit. Ticket buyers could do worse than The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The summary
Sadly any message that was intended is lost underneath a surfeit of third-act spectacle, but this second effort at The Day the Earth Stood Still is generally entertaining and diverting.
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