ScreenWize

While writing criticism for Vanity Fair in the 1920s, the great Dorothy Parker famously wrote of the acting range of Katherine Hepburn that it ran the gamut from A to B. I only wish I could be that witty, and I only wish I could say anything better of the range of Keanu Reeves. His acting, honed over a twenty year career under the eye of some of the greats of modern cinema, hasn’t shown too much in the way of growth. He is as expressive as a face shot up full of botox, so much so that you could be forgiven for mistaking him for one of the cast of Desperate Housewives. Fortunately for The Day The Earth Stood Still, this visual stoicism works, as he plays an alien come to Earth in human form.

This remake of the 1951 Sci-Fi classic sticks closely to the original’s narrative. Exobiologist (someone who studies alien biology) Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) is at home with her step-son Jacob (Jayden Smith) when The Government come knocking at her door and whisk her away with a chopper full of boffins to a location where they are all briefed about the impending arrival of an object headed to Earth at an alarming rate.

Instead of destroying the planet, the object lands in New York’s Central Park, and out pops Keanu Reeves as the alien Klatu, who is emissary for a group of aliens who have come to hold mankind in judgement. Unfortunately for mankind, negotiations get off to a poor start when a nervous soldier accidentally shoots Klatu. Whisked off to a government facility, Klatu meets the US Secretary of Defence (Kathy Bates), whose diplomacy leaves a little to be desired, and feeling empathy for the alien, Dr Benson helps him escape.

At this point the plot deviates from the original, and from hereon in the film bares more resemblance to M Night Shyamalan’s The Happening, with the writers fashioning our continued raping of the planet’s environmental resources as the reason for the alien’s judgement on mankind. Film purists will turn their noses up in disgust, but it does hold a certain relevance.

The film is fantastically cast – Kathy Bates is as solid as ever, John Cleese in a straight role is terrific, and young Jayden Smith (Will Smith’s son and his co-star in The Pursuit of Happyness) does an impressive job. Keanu is Keanu, and he always will be.

The Day The Earth Stood Still is visually impressive, and surprisingly dark and thoughtful, but at the end of the (still) day, you just have to ask… why? The original Robert Wise film is one of cinemas all-time classics, as much for its flaws as for its vision. Seriously, Hollywood, if it aint broke, stop trying to fix it.

CK

Rating:

Filed Under: Reviews by Simon