A pedestrian eco-disaster film

The Day The Earth Stood Still
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith
Director: Scott Derrickson
*

This film is a pretty tame remake of Robert Wise’s original based on a screenplay by Edmund H. North and derived from the 1940 Harry Bates’ story “Farewell to the Master.”

Climate change has been the green lobby’s pet bugbear for the past few years and this film seeks to make a rather ineffective point about the callousness of the human race towards the survival of a planet that appears to be among the few life sources in the Universe. Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth was far more effective and earnest in communicating about the same issue. This film belongs more to the disaster genre and incorporates as many special effects as possible (an over indulgence that was not quite necessary!).

Klaatu (Keanu Reeves, more alien-esque than the ‘aliens’) and Gort, a gigantic metal man with a laser for eyes, walk out of an illuminated ball like spaceship that lands in Central Park. The armed forces, in attacking positions, view this as an alien invasion and shoot at Klaatu the minute he steps out. David Scarpa’s script retains some original elements from the Wise film -- the US Government refuses to grant Klaatu’s request of a meeting with world leaders at the UN and the widow Dr.Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) and her black stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith) play the key contacts for Klaatu. This film is different from the original only in that Helen’s character has been upgraded to that of a scientist-professor.

The main problem with the film is its lack of a proper, cogent story. Klaatu’s mission is to destroy the human race and its creations because he holds them responsible for the devastating deterioration that earth faces. Frankly there is little logic to this premise. Could it be possible that a superior life form that Klaatu represents doesn’t know about the evolution theory or is it that they think all of it is humbug? And what of the human race’s potential to transform itself? Wiping out the whole race also seems like an over-the-top exercise at best.

At first Klaatu refuses to be persuaded to abort his mission and Gort unleashes his metallic life busters who swarm the cities across the world disintegrating monuments and life forms in its path. When Dr Benson’s appeal finally causes Klaatu to relent, it appears forced and un-redeeming. The film also lacks visual punch and the drama is non-existent.  The plot is poorly developed and the surfeit of special effects fail to promote a visual magnificence which is an expected from such generic expositions.

Scott Derrickson’s narrative is distinctly old-fashioned and his treatment totally enervating. David Tattersall’s camerawork, Wayne Wahrman’s editing, David Brisbin’s production design and Tyler Bates background score, like everything else about this film, are unremarkably pedestrian. And do not get conned by the Taj Mahal in the posters.