Earth Stood Still…Booo!

Day Earth Stood Still (2008) Review

Here’s the pitch meeting for The Day the Earth Stood Still, as I imagine it:

Studio exec: We need a tentpole picture for the winter season…I am Legend did pretty good, can we come up with somethin like that?

Writer: I had an original idea…

Studio exec: No originals! We need an established property…somethin people know…my kid’s in film school…he likes that Day the Earth Stood Still…how about that?

Writer: The original film is about nonviolence. It’s a pretty small story, and you couldn’t really turn it into an action blockbuster without coming off hypocritical.

Studio exec: Isn’t that what we pay you for? Make it work.

Writer: (Looking at rent bills, electric bills, child support) Oh….okay.

Flashforward to the actual movie.

It’s exactly what our fictional writer feared. A movie about an alien from a race advanced past violence not only has the alien kill people, but wants to make the audience enjoy watching the alien’s robot destroy armies (and trucks, and stadiums).

It’s hypocritical.

Keanu Reeves monotones through it as Klaatu, the alien visitor.

It’s not a fun action movie, cus it’s still trying to pretend it’s about nonviolence and (updated for 2008) environmentalism.

It’s not a thinking movie because its violent content undermines the philosophizing.

In a word….Boooo!

You know this isn’t 1951’s Klaatu when…

Keanu Reeves as Klaatu destroys two helicopters…with the pilots inside.

Who is going to see this movie?

A) Curious people who thought the trailer looked cool…who will be disappointed when it isn’t much of an action movie.

B) Fans of the original, who will be disappointed this movie ruins their beloved film.

-Dan Benamor

p.s. catch my professional review at: http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2008/12/12/Diversions/The-Earth.Died.Screaming-3578248.shtml