Vanguard

Issue date: 1/12/09 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: http://www.screenrant.com "The Day the Earth Stood Still" proves to be an exciting sci-fi remake. Reeves reinvents the cliche alien, complete with mechanical mannerisms and speech.

It begins as any other alien invasion movie would: a strange object heading quickly toward the Earth, landing in Central Park, then producing a strange creature.
After an understandably nervous cop or soldier shoots the first creature, a monstrous robot quickly subdues everyone. In another well-worn yet well-loved aspect of this genre, the special effects make the scene, with a blinding light coming out of the beautiful sphere to introduce our aliens. As all beings from outer space tend to be in these sort of movies, they are also far more advanced than the humans whose planet they enter.
Quickly, though, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" challenges the worn-out model. The alien, instead of seeking to conquer and subjugate, cryptically says he comes with good intentions toward the Earth but refuses to commit to being friendly toward the human race.
Further, the alien, played by Keanu Reeves, is not small and green with huge beady eyes but, for all practical purposes, human, despite his mechanical mannerisms and speech.
As more of our mysterious, mesmerizing spheres continue to land on Earth, a tugging match ensues between our protagonist -- an astrobiologist played by Jennifer Connelly -- and the predictably trigger-happy and authoritarian U.S. government, personified in Kathy Bates as the Secretary of Defense. Our scientist, of course, intends to study the extra-terrestrials and, hopefully, cooperate and reason with them, while our regrettably uncompromising government continues to try to use physical force against them -- of course to no avail, since they far outpace the government's technology.
While our alien and scientist, plus her stepson, flee the government in the New Jersey wilderness, the alien's intentions come into focus. Humans are destroying the Earth and need to be stopped before one of the few life-supporting planets dies. If saving the planet means extinguishing humanity, then so be it.
With the violent welcome he received, the alien is not so keen on being merciful. The rest of the story centers upon persuading our all-powerful alien to allow humanity to change, to save the Earth.
This plot is helped along by the tremendous acting of not only the headliners but some lesser-knowns who add an extra level to the plot. John Cleese, from "Monty Python," instead of questing for the Holy Grail, plays a fellow scientist who makes a crucial point to the alien. As our protagonist's stepson, Jaden Smith also delivers a worthy and convincing performance.
What fills the seats, though, is probably the special effects. Fireworks by the U.S. Army, in a futile attempt to stop the "invaders," are only the beginning. As mentioned before, the mysterious spheres add beauty to the otherwise destructive special effects, while things do, of course, get destroyed in dramatic fashion.
With an enriching plot, a thoughtful message, realistic acting and special effects only science fiction can deliver, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" delivers to fans of science fiction and more.

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