I have never ever been a Keanu Reeves fan, save Bill and Ted's Excellent
Adventure. I think he ruins every film he's in because he simply CANNOT Act.
Apparently, I'm not alone. One star from Marc Savlov at the Austin Chronicle.
Interestingly, I will probably see it with my younger son this weekend in spite
of the fact that it will probably be the toilet plopper of the holiday season.
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Year Released: 2008
Directed By: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith, John
Cleese, Jon Hamm, Kyle Chandler
(PG-13, 103 min.)
When word went out that this remake of Robert Wise's sci-fi classic was in the
works, a hue and cry arose from those who have kept watching the skies since
the golden age of the Cold War-era science-fiction film. Admittedly, I was
among those whose first thought was, "Why?" and whose second thought was,
"Keanu Reeves?!" Seriously, it didn't sound like a smart move in any direction
when announced, and, unsurprisingly, this loud, hammy, and, above all,
pointless do-over only serves to point out the genius of the original.
Screenwriter David Scarpa sticks to the rudiments of Edmund H. North's 1951
script but garnishes the film's overriding and still-resonant message with
wooden warnings from the equally wooden Reeves and then ladles on the CGI
destruction to little effect. Wise's film had a stately elegance, with Michael
Rennie's interplanetary message-bearer Klaatu eliciting genuine pathos while
Patricia Neal and Hugh Marlowe acted exceedingly human
throughout. (It also had one of Bernard Herrmann's eeriest and most memorable
musical scores.) Reeves, cast here as Klaatu, displays precious few emotions
and even less acting. He plays the character of Klaatu (who is, lest we forget,
the potential destroyer and/or savior of all mankind) as though he were on
robo-pilot, and the whole characterization comes off as a bad, possibly ironic
riff on Hugo Weaving's vastly more entertaining Agent Smith of The Matrix.
Keanu stalks, Keanu glowers, Keanu has a giant robot christened "Gort" by the
U.S. armed forces, but he's no Michael Rennie. Connelly does her best as the
sci-gal whose rocky relationship with her preteen stepson eventually leads to
tears, hugs, and the redemption of all mankind (maybe). But even she – or a
stern Bates or a decidedly unsilly cameo by Cleese – can't save this dull,
unnecessary film from its total lack of "Gosh, wow!" sense of wonder. Wipe ’em
out, Gort.
* Marc Savlov [2008-12-12]
