At a stand still

The Day the Earth Stood Still was one of the most panned films of 2008, and the criticism has leaked into 09 too. First of all it’s not that bad. You’d be hard pressed to label the film a success but it’s not exactly a glaring failure either. It’s a fairly easy film to sum up – The Day the Earth Stood Still has a pedestrian and uninvolving narrative supported by an okay cast and packed with a pleasant moral story. It’s as simple as that.

The greatest problem with the film is that too often it feels like a television movie. For an alleged movie blockbuster, The Day the Earth Stood Still feels like something you’d flick on at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon. This is due to the lack of a visual and auditory presence. When you watch War of the Worlds or The Day After Tomorrow you genuinely feel like the world is ending. The Day the Earth Stood Still doesn’t exert that feel. The budget of US 80 million is very tame for an end-of-the-world action film and it shows. Visually the film is nothing really, the effects are ordinary and there’s nothing at all groundbreaking.

Despite its narrative shortcomings the film remains credible because of its star-studded cast. Jennifer Connelly is solid in the role of the heroine, a role she could probably play in her sleep. The two stories of the film though are most certainly Jaden Smith (son of Will) and Keanu Reeves. First of all Jaden Smith is okay in his role. The problem is his painfully annoying character, someone so poorly written that we can never fully sympathise with him in the end. Keanu though is probably the brightest spot in the film. Is there any actor in the world better suited to play Klaatu? I don’t think so. Emotionless alien trapped in a human body? Come on! It’s too perfect. Some would say Keanu plays that role in all his films. Keanu has Klaatu down pat, his deliberate movements, his cold stare and his chilled voice are all done perfectly. Jon Hamm is good in a minor role, and Jon Cleese is terrific in his one scene.

Aside from the capable cast, the other thing Earth has going for it is it’s effective message about global warming. Some have labelled the film An Inconvenient Truth 2.0, and with good reason. Only thing is Keanu Reeves probably doesn’t have as much political credibility as Al Gore. Still, the message that we are destroying the Earth, and that perhaps it is more valuable than we are is, makes its mark. More impressive though is the uplifting message the film ultimately conveys, that ‘at the precipice of disaster we change’.

Despite my inclination too, I simply can’t recommend this film. It’s simply not very good. The script is very weak, the acting merely okay despite the very promising cast, and most importantly the film has absolutely no presence. It fails to create suspense, and never truly involves the viewer. Is it worth the $14 it now costs to watch a film in the cinema? Probably not. But it’s at least worth a 2pm TV viewing on a Tuesday afternoon.