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The Day The Earth Stood Still

Movie Grade: C-

DVD Features: A-

Overall Grade: B-

The remake of Robert Wise's 1951 sci-fi thriller does not portend to be anything but the some of its parts. Let's make that clear. The staid, unflattering set designs that highlight the black and blue render the film virtually lifeless, which is a shame, because this film essentially concerns the perpetuation of life on planet Earth. Instead, with dull performances and a CGI-overload of meaningless effects, The Day The Earth Stood Still is almost entirely bland.

This one begins with Keanu Reeves as an arctic explorer near the beginning of the 20th century. He discovers a sphere hovering above land and decides to get closer. He touches it. He falls over.

Present day: Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) is a scientist chosen, along with several others, to determine the effects of a giant space orb, sphere, floating emoticon; it has appeared in Central Park to the horror of many. A man named Klaatu emerges from the sphere and is protected by a giant metal robot. Because the army is confused and hurried by his presence, he is shot, but Klaatu survives.

He is taken to a medical facility where underneath his space flesh is an entirely new being. This being has the body of a human, but is not of the Earth. Secretary of Defense Regina Jackson (played hilariously by Kathy Bates) speaks on behalf of the president, and assuming the President speaks on behalf of the entire nation, indicates that this alien-being should be put into custody and maybe on trial for positing a threat on the United States of America.

However, Benson finds something courageous and worthwhile in Klaatu, and manages to encourage him into escaping. She and her son, Jacob (Jaden Smith, who almost sinks the film), take him on a series of adventures where they learn the power of the human spirit, and Klaatu, who is unable to experience human emotion or compassion, reiterates that the Earth can no longer withstand the destruction of its human population. Klaatu's own mission is to commandeer the planet away from its owners and give it to other forms of life. His reasoning: There are only so many planets in the solar system that can sustain life, and if we're not going to take care of this one, then we might as well give this one up. When the characters "” with the exception of Jennifer Connelly "” are so unconvincing, we almost start cheering for his cause.

The Day The Earth Stood Still is a remake that seeks to update the political or social leanings of its original with modern embellishments. Could it be an allegory for the effects of global warming? Could it be an end-of-the-Bush-administration apology, courtesy of sci-fi fable about the dangers of military advancement? One thing is

sure: Director Scott Derrickson's script is mostly speculation: he doesn't answer any questions about the state of human relations or the dearth of creative impulse concerning a civilization on the brink of destruction. The most is he can muster is a dough-eyed Jennifer Connelly repeating a platitude of faint capability to Klaatu: "We can change""¦..

And that's it"¦"¦We can change. Klaatu, upon meeting Professor Banhardt (John Cleese) learns that it is only on the precipice of disaster that humans interact and make something happen. This is true. Civilizations have dissipated and re-emerged throughout the course of time. The problem is that nothing revelatory concerning the human condition is hit home; characters merely play their part. The military personnel play their part, the scientists theirs, without a real modicum of direction or insight. There is nothing unexpected in the behaviorisms of anyone in this film. It's only obvious that we'll force upon Klaatu the assertion that "we can change".

Strangely, yet perhaps unsurprisingly, Klaatu emerges from the maelstrom of human confusion by agreeing with Connelly's Benson. This means that the Earth will probably be spared, its population of paranoid, power-hungry inhabitants can continue to muck it up without the presence of Klaatu there to remind them just how paranoid and power-hungry they really are.

I won't reveal the ending, but will intimate that there is some nifty CGI-trickery that imbues the film with some much-needed action. It all ends predictably, though.

The Day The Earth Stood Still is loaded with extras, which make it"¦..somewhat worthwhile. The 3-disc set includes a digital copy of the remake for portable media players, a copy of the original Robert Wise production, which is very much worth seeing and prescient in the manner in which it conveys post WW-II paranoia and the possibilities of nuclear threat.

The extras are all loaded onto the first disc, and they include commentary by screenwriter David Scarpa, the requisite deleted scenes (which perhaps tellingly add little to the plot of emotional weight from the film), a documentary called "Re-Imagining The Day, and a couple of featurettes. The short documentary is worth seeing, as the filmmakers desperately try to convey the notion that they had a masterpiece in the original (which is mostly true) and that the resonance of that classic could ripple through the production of the remake. While the original mirrored the times effectively, the remake feels like Hollywood's interpretation of current political climates, without an understanding of what makes those climates the way they are.

Movie Grade: C-

DVD Features: A-

Overall Grade: B-