The Day Keanu Reeves Stood Still

ALERT: Spoilers ahead.

If you haven't seen The Day the EArth Stootd Stiill, don't. Rather, you should see the original black and white film made back in the 1950s. It is much better and has much better acting and isn't so tainted by "the human race sucks" mentality which came through loud and clear for the full 1 hour and 45 minutes.

OK, the positives--there aren't any unless you're one of those "special effects make any movie good" thinkers. The special effects were good, but not worth the price of admission by a long shot.

OK, the negatives. Keanu Reeves, as the title of my blog implies, doesn't move in this whole picture. Sure, he goes from one place to the next, but there is no variation in his facial expression for the entire movie. Now, I know acting, period, is hard for Keanu "Whoa" Reeves, but seriously this guy had only one expression throughout. Now, that's either talent or proof that he can't distinguish one emotion from the next. Even, at the very end, when he is so "moved" by Jennifer Connelly's very lame pleas for mercy, his facial expression remains the same.

Jennifer Connelly whines throughout the film. There is nothing attractive about it or her.

Will Smith's kid Jaden stars in this. A new Haley Joel Osmont he is not; far from it. His "acting" was so contrived, he could have only graduated from the Keanu Reeves' School of Acting.

The original movie was much more suspenseful because you didn't know Klaatu's intentions. He was still making up his mind as to what the fate of the human race should be. In this version, the decision has already been made and there is not much sympathy to be found in Keanu Reeves at all, not even when he changes his mind or sees the inherent wrong in the plan.

In the original, man still has a chance to repent of his crimes whereas in this version, man's repentance is basically summed up in Jennifer Connelly's ad nauseam pleas that we can change. Maybe that's why Keanu Reeves' Klaatu is so easily persuaded, because he cannot tell the difference between true repentance and mere words.

One final point, there was no "Klaatu barato nikto" in this one. Oh come on! I thought for sure that those words would be in this version.

Save your money and don't see it.