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PAGE 12, DECEMBER 22, 2008, THE ISLANDER
“Goin* to
the Show...”
with...
Roland
Willis
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly,
Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith & John Cleese
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Written by David Scarpa
Running Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes
Rated PG-13 - Violence
When I was younger, much younger,
I had this friend who fancied himself
as a movie buff, and would use quotes
from the movies in an attempt to charm
his dates. Clinking glasses with a lady
friend he might say, “Here’s looking at
you, kid,” from Casablanca.
Fortunately, he was not a good
mime and, unlike Woody Allen in Play
It Again Sam, would not attempt a
Bogart accent.
Anyway, after one particularly fine
romantic moment, or so he thought, he
asked his date, “Did the earth move for
you?” (from For Whom the Bell Tolls).
To his dismay she replied, “Sorry,
Honey, I’m afraid the earth stood
still!”
Unfortunately, that’s how I feel
about this pathetic attempt to remake
the 1951 Robert Wise classic in today’s
terms.
In 1951 the world was getting close
to nuclear Armageddon and the Harry
Bates’ short story, ‘Farewell to the Mas
ter ,’ Astounding Science Fiction, 1940,
was adapted to warn us that we need
to control our aggressive tendencies
before the earth was destroyed.
A flying saucer (also popular at that
time) lands in Washington, D.C. and
out steps an alien in human form,
Klaatu (Michael Rennie), and a huge
mechanical robot, Gort.
Klaatu is immediately shot and Gort
destroys everything in sight.
The character played by Patricia
Neal takes Klaatu under her care and it
is the time spent with her, her son and
fellow occupants of a boarding house
that convince Klaatu that perhaps the
human species have some redeeming
qualities after all, and might be capa
ble of change.
He speaks at the U.N. but can’t
make it back to his ship in time to stop
Gort from starting the destruction of
the human race, and sends Patricia
Neal to utter the classic command,
“Gort! Klaatu barada nikto.”
The theme of this new version, The
Day the Earth Stood Still, is the same,
namely that the earth is one of the few
planets that can sustain life and must
be saved.
This time the threat is to the envi
ronment and the aliens have decided
that climate change is close to the
tipping point, i.e. the point where it
becomes irreversible, and they need to
need to act.
Klaatu and Gort land in a big irides
cent sphere in Central Park. This being
post 9/11, Klaatu is immediately taken
into custody by a tough Secretary of
State, Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates).
He wants to speak to the U.N. but
Jackson tells him that he landed in our
country and he only needs to speak to
us. They treat him as an alien invader
and attempt to interrogate him as a
prisoner of war.
Of coruse he escapes and is helped
by a biologist, Dr. Helen Benson (Jen
nifer Connelly) and her 10-year-old
adopted son, Jacob (Jaden Smith, the
charismatic son of Will Smith).
Klaatu explains to Helen that his
role is to do a final evaluation of the
probability that the humans might
change their destructive behavior.
His decision is quite easy: if the
earth dies, you die; if you die, the earth
survives. Either way you die.
His experience of human behavior at
the hands of the U. S. authorities has
not been good and it is left to Helen and
Jacob to convince him that we might be
worth saving.
Another difference from the original,
and fitting with the ecological theme,
is that Gort is a biological robot and
the destruction process is biologically
based.
So what’s wrong with this one?
Since 1951 there have been so many
excellent sci-fi movies involving casts
of thousands and superb special effects
we expect our money to buy something
special. Instead we have a cast of five
and special effects that are a joke.
Sci-fi films involving the arrival of
aliens include Close Encounters of the
Third Kind which was a Spielberg
masterpiece... an adventure story
woven round the awe and suspense of
a first encounter.
Then the comparison of another
remake, War of the Worlds, jumps
to mind. This was another Spielberg
massive movie with great characters
(Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning),
great effects and the mass hysteria of
thousands fleeing annihilation.
Finally, this list must include Inde
pendence Day with the final, patriotic,
3sknd CINEMAS
Sea Island Rd. at Frederica Rd.
www.hollywood.conn
MOVIES INFO. BARGAIN
634-9100 MATINEES DAILY .
SEVEN POUNDS (PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 12:20, 4:10, 7:00, 10:00
THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX
(G)
Mon-Thurs 12:00, 2:15,
4:45, 7:15, 9:30
YES MAN (PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 1:00, 4:30, 7:30, 10:05
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD
STILL (PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 12:50, 4:20, 7:10, 9:50
AUSTRALIA (PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 12:30, 4:00, 7:45
FOUR CHRISTMASES (PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 12:10, 2:45,
5:10, 7:40, 10:00
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED
PAJAMAS (PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 12:15, 2:40,
^^^5D5^20^4^^^^
back-to-the-wall fight against alien
invaders led by the U. S. president (Bill
Pullman), a black swaggering hot-rod
pilot (Will Smith) and a computer nerd
(Jeff Goldblum); immense in scope,
emotional 4th of July do-or-die speech
with human courage and ingenuity
winning the day.
The new The Day the Earth Stood
Still is a big yawn compared to these.
Keanu Reeves was chosen for this
part because he could play the non-
emotional Klaatu by just being himself.
But how is a relationship between
Helen and Klaatu expected to light up
the world?
The Day the Earth Stood Still was
a huge disappointment and should be
avoided.
My rating is D. □
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