The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) – Movie Review

The Day the Earth Stood Still is the remake of 1951 sci-fi thriller starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly and Jaden Smith in "The Day the Earth Stood Still"
Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly and Jaden Smith in "The Day the Earth Stood Still"

The people of earth are in panic when an object travels fast toward earth and is expected to destroy earth. However, it lands on earth as a bright sphere. An alien named Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) greets Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) but is shot by one of the soldiers. He is immediately taken to the operating theater. After being operated, he has quickly transformed into a human-like alien. When the United States Secretary of Defense, Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates) meets Klaatu and questions him, Klaatu is reluctant and his negative opinion of the human race grows even more when she he is barred from speaking to the leaders of the world, he decides the human should be exterminated so the planet can survive.

Klaatu says to Dr. Benson, "If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives."

At Klaatu’s command, Gort turns into a swarm of nanites that destroy everything in its path. Dr. Helen Benson and her stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith) finally convince Klaatu the humans are worth saving as human can change and Klaatu walks through the nanites to touch the sphere which emits a massive EMP which kills all the nanites. But, at the same time, all human’s technology is rendered useless.

Overall, the movie is superb at its visual effect but lacks a storyline. Keanu Reeves played Klaatu impressively, he is almost like a humanoid robot in the film. The funny part is when Klaatu speaks Mandarin with Mr. Wu (James Hong) even though both of them converse in English afterward. However, there is a lot of substance missing from the film, particularly the thriller effect which movies like "I Am Legend" has.

My ratings: 7 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

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