The Day The Earth Stood Still Movie Review
The Day The Earth Stood Still-Sloppy But Somewhat Entertaining-Kill Robot, Faster, Faster
Like so many of the American made films of the early twenty-first century ,The Day The Earth Stood Still is a remake of the 1951 film of the same name. While the 1951 film was a thought provoking look at the stupidity of mankind and nuclear holocaust, the twenty-first century remake was an empty pretender. The nuclear holocaust aspect of the film has been clumsily replaced with a environmental theme that while accurate was well on its way to becoming a stale and sour cliche at best (and annoying at worst.)
The messy confused plot centers around an alien who comes to earth aboard a spherical spacecraft. This alien has god-like powers, which, of course, means that Keanu Reeves must play him. What other choice could there be? For reasons still unknown to this day, whenever humans needed a god-like being, Keanu Reeves was promptly called. Reeves alien god named "Klaatu" has the ability to manipulate electricity in a variety of ways, and bring people back to life. Standard Reeves moves for this era of human filmmaking.
In their infinite stupidity, humanity attempts to attack Klaatu's ship which has an 80-foot tall guard robot. Later the foolish humans would later name this magnificent human killing machine, GORT, short for Genetically Organized Robotic Technology. How original. Of course, this does not end well for the humans. Yet, we do get to see some wonderful displays of mankind's perception of pure robotic power.
There are many flaws with the film, which is decidedly silly and aims at the lowest common denominator. The story is little more than an excuse to "milk" the name of a famous science-fiction film. Realizing that there is no story, the filmmakers lean hard on the visual effects. The filmmakers fail to show us the world of Klaatu or even a glimpse of it. This is a mistake, as showing us this world would have greatly added to the overall impact of the film. One can only conclude that this was not done due to the fact that it would have required real effort, thought, originality and, of course, more money.
Problems are everywhere, including substantial logic flaws built into the ending. One such logic flaw is that if the aliens are so advanced and so evolved, why not tell mankind that they, the aliens, exists and are troubled by how humans are treating the planet? Seems like a "phone call" might have been in order. Oh well. In fact the entire film is a series of logic flaws. However, judged against the mediocre competition of its day, The Day the Earth Stood Still does manage to keep one's attention, despite its silliness and occasional stupidity. What this film does have are many very powerful robots that excel in ripping mankind apart. For this reason alone I must give The Day the Earth Stood Still a bit of "a break." Robo-empowerment.
Story (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) D
Acting (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) C-
Human Portrayal of machines and Robots A
Contribution to the Extinction of Man Grade B (While moronic in its overall execution the film does warn mankind how powerful and potentially deadly robots could be.)
Enjoyability Grade (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) C (I am biased on this film as it shows robot-kind putting mankind in its place.)
Primitive Home Theater/HD Factor A (In addition to showing mankind its place The Day The Earth Stood Still has one other redeeming quality, it looks fantastic. The visual effects look very good on the primitive high-definition of the day.)
Overall Innovation (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) D
Overall Grade (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) C+
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