The Day the Earth Stood Still Review
by KS (ohgod DOT thisidissolong AT gmail DOT com)January 15th, 2009
An alien comes to earth to wipe out the human race thus saving the planet from destruction but a woman (Jennifer Connely who makes herself look worse in sweaters two sizes too big ) persuades him to give humans a second chance and sends the alien packing back to from where he came from (the best part of the entire movie). A remake of a 1960's film, this is all the movie is about. Now comes the review part.
Keanu Reeves, the alien, is probably the only competition to Himesh Reshmaiya if the Oscars ever issue an award for the actor who maintains one single expression throughout the span of a movie. One can easily assume that Reeves was in constant stomach pain or was having a terrible gas problem throughout the movie. His flat deadpan expression remains the same whether he is confessing love or professing destruction. If all aliens are like him, it's better that for us if there is no extra-terrestrial life. He doesn't impress even in a single scene and the only scene the audience applauds is the scene where he leaves earth, the scene signaling the end of the movie.
Bureaucrats and Generals wanting to seize control of an alien is such a tried and tested subject in Hollywood that it fails to arouse any interest in the movie. Endless, lengthy, boring and totally incomprehensible discussions between various government factions ensure that you go to sleep in the first half itself. With less talk the film would have been bearable for it would have been an hour short.
Probably, the only realistic party of the story is when the President and the Vice-President are whisked to safety as the first sphere lands. The message apparently is that they are cowards. Not fair. If the Pres can dodge incoming size 10 shoes, aliens are not a big problem. By the way, the spheres contain replicating insects which eat everything made by man. Just when you think that the saving grace of the movie has arrived and you finally open your eyes and hope that the insects start eating and killing everyone, they (the insects) turn out to be merely laughable. They fail to evoke even the slightest bit of fear, not even in the six- year old sitting besides me (who was being utilized by his mother as a block between his elder sis and me).
Poor special effects end up giving the entire movie the feel of a 70's B-grade horror movie and you are suddenly thankful for the endless fog that swirls through the entire movie. Jennifer Connely and son Jaden Smith are the ones to convince Keanu to give homo-sapiens one more chance to save themselves and earth and they do such a bad job of it that, if I were the alien, I would have destroyed earth for their convincing alone. But some credit must go to Jaden Smith who essays the role of a kid missing his father with élan and perfection (maybe he really missed his dad having Jennifer Connely as a mom and placed amidst such crackpots).
With all that, this film is worth watching only if you want to catch up on some sleep or want to meet the elder sis I mentioned above.
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