The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
 
Anyone who goes to see this movie expecting it to be anything like the
original version made in 1951, directed by Robert Wise, and Starring
Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal and Hugh Marlow, will be sorely disappointed.
 It is true that there are a number of scenes borrowed and updated (to be
kind) from the original, but to try to compare them would be futile.
 
My opinion begins with the cast.  Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly are
excellent choices to play Klaatu and Helen Benson, respectfully.  The rest
of the casting I didn't think much of.  In the original, Helen's son Bobby
Benson is played beautifully by Billy Gray.  In the remake, there is no
Bobby Benson.  Instead the role went to Will Smith's son Jaden and is
renamed Jacob - Helen's stepson.
 
By now, the readers will have some idea of where I'm going with this review.
 
Neither of the two films bear a resemblance to the short story Farewell To
the Master, written by Harry M. Bates.  However, the screenplay for the
1951 film written by Edmund H. North is a skyscraper compared to this one
story apartment of a remake.
 
Anyone who has not seen the original and are used to blow-`em-up type films
will probably appreciate this remake.  The film is long on effects and
short on meaningful dialog.  The acting by Keanu Reeves may seem wooden to
the viewer, but he is, after all, acting and doing what the director
intended for him to do and he did it well.  He is playing an alien, after
all.
 
Jennifer Connelly, on the other hand, made the best of the role she played.
I really liked the way she looked in Career Opportunities, but she has
apparently lost a little weight since then.  She is, nevertheless, a good
actress.
 
To sum it up, this film had a few bits and pieces from the original to keep
the old-timers interested, but the expectation the makers of this film had
in the hope that we who were fortunate enough to see the original, must
have had the reverse affect.
 
 
Regards,
 
Roger

--- DB 3.99 + W10 (1607)