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The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008) Review
This film shows us exactly why Keanu Reeves is so bland, and yet again tells us that NYC is one of the most places in the world, because that’s where the aliens go first (at least they mention the rest of the world though). You might not get some of the jokes in this review unless you’ve seen the film before or if you at least know a little about Keanu Reeves. But anyway, here goes, my first review!
I just finished watching the 2008 remake of the 1951 movie The Day The Earth Stood Still. Before I state my own personal opinion, I’ll say what the critics thought of it (from looking at places like Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB). It has a 21% rating on rotten tomatoes, so we’re not exactly off to a great start. IMDB give it 5.5/10, which is a little better, so maybe it’s not all so bad? One of the complaints is that the film relied heavily on it’s special effects, personally, I thought the special effects were pretty good, but sometimes when there’s almost only special effects, it can spoil the feel of it.
Some shots (like the one above) seem to be almost entirely CGI, which ruins the moment. Like when the GORT (Genetically Organized Robotic Technology) first makes an appearence, because it is CG, there’s no real weight to it, and there doesn’t seem to be any sound effects to help either, but maybe that’s because of my lack of a decent sound system.
I’m not going to go into the details of the plot for fear of spoiling it for people who haven’t seen it, not that it would be easy to do that, when you watch it, you only need to pay a little attention to the plot, and the rest of the time can be spent wondering why Keanu Reeves is so perfect for an emotionless alien (no, I am not a huge fan, but I do love the Matrix).
However, this might not be the fault of the film makers, remember that this is a remake of a 50’s movie, so the plot might still be the same as the original, the only way to find out would be to watch the original film, which I might do at some point in my life.
I’m normally not fussed by how scientific a science fiction film is, because of the fact it is science FICTION, but small details in this film give it a convincing feel, like the film makers bothered to think about little details, which I appreciated. As I said before, Keanu Reeves is his typical emotionless self, which is a shame because he was full of life in the Bill & Ted movies!
But Reeves being his bland self actually works here, as he is not of this world… and neither is his character.
There were some unnecessary plot points, like the sad back story for our main characters, Jacob and Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly and Jaden Smith). The film seems to try to hide their relationship and backstory for a while, and then when it says it, it never stops telling us! This is extremely annoying at times because it is only slightly significant to the plot, and could’ve been mentioned once or twice, and then the audience should have to remember it, rather than having the director (Scott Derrickson) jabbing you in the ribs every now and again to remind you.
All in all, I think this film is alright, it’s not amazing, but it is bearable. Bearable, but nothing more than that. Personally, I don’t think I’ll buy it, unless I see it increadibly cheap online and some other people want to see it.
The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008): 4/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970416/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/day_the_earth_stood_still/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still_%282008%29
