Review: "The Day the Earth Stood Still"

Let me just say this upfront: Keanu Reeves can play three kinds of roles: someone who's aloof, a person who takes himself too seriously, or as an alien.

In "The Day the Earth Stood Still", he plays all three roles, which can actually be considered a good thing. Because in a film as insipid as this, it didn't matter what role he played, as long as it was someone -- or in the case of this movie -- something alive.

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" is a remake of the classic science fiction film. The story has been changed so that the aliens have come to decimate all life on Earth because of the damage inflicted by climate change. Well, I guess if there's a reason to kill everything, it's to give nature a second chance.

And that about sums up my feelings for this show. I didn't watch the original version, so I don't know how awesome and ground-breaking it was. I suppose it's just as well, because this modern update was a movie that made my brain stand still.

In the first place, it didn't fit into any known genre. It was science fiction, but there was barely enough science to fill a primary school textbook. It could've been an action film, but the most we got was the U.S. Army looking quite useless. It may have been a drama, but there was no gripping tension in the story. Perhaps it should be filed under "horror" because watching it was just so dreadful.

It's a pity that Jennifer Connelly's talent was wasted here. She is certainly capable of making good films. Same thing for Kathy Bates. And Jaden Smith was just too irritating.

And then there was Keanu Reeves. Here is an actor whom I'm always rooting for. Ever since his blockbuster-making role in "Speed", he's had a few good films, like "Matrix" and "The Lake House". Then he also takes up jobs like "The Day the Earth Stood Still", where he can't seem to get past his stone-faced expression. Or maybe that's all that was needed to portray an alien ready to bring death and destruction to Earth.

Fortunately, because this film is a terrific dud, I actually didn't mind watching Keanu Reeves mope his way through the movie. At least it didn't make him appear any worse than he did.

But oh yeah, it was a hoot to watch Keanu Reeves speak Mandarin!