57 Review: The Day the Earth Stood Still << Prev Next >>
by: ColonelZen	IP: 117.252	rated: 0-0	posted: 2008-12-13 09:13:36
I left work early and saw the opening day matinee in IMAX. For this movie the extra few dollars for IMAX was well worth it.       (Spoilers Ahead)     The 1951 version of TDTESS is one of my all time favorite films; I was prepared to dislike this by comparison. I was wrong, it was excellent. It is visually rich, tightly scripted and the modification of the story from the 1951 version is well done.     There are some weaknesses, though. Chief among them is that Jennifer Connelly doesn't work as a scientist, particularly one who was mentored by a Nobel Prize winner. Her character does plausible things when the lead in the scene in the scientist role, but her manner and expressions do not convey the curiosity, wonder and excitement that should have been there. On the other hand, the meeting between Professor Bernhardt (John Cleese in a rare dramatic role) and Klaatu was practically a grand opera perfectly timed and choreographed. It was perfect, and the reprise of Sam Jaffe's Bernhardt line to Klaatu was the perfect homage to the original.     Keneau Reeves slightly creepy persona was played up to make him the perfect Klaatu. Speaking of which what is it with Reeves? The 1951 version is a masterpiece in large part because, without discussing religion in any way, it made innumerable allusions to Christian symbolism and addressed many thematic issues important to Christianity. And of course The Matrix owes much of its mythic impact to exactly the same allegoric root. And in between, Reeves did Constantine. There may be some I missed as the film is rich and I'm still digesting it, but there were only a few and less direct allegorical references to Christianity in this version.     Otherwise Reeves', reserved and stiff, did a very good job of portraying a sophisticated and intelligent but alien being learning from the inside out what it is to be human.     Likewise kudos for Kathy Bates' character. She plays a strong, intelligent and wise woman that one would hope would characterize a cabinet level politician, but at the same time showing just enough arrogance and impatience to tip her encounter with Klaatu over to catastrophe. Her failure is not villainy but mere humanity.     As science fiction, there are a few quirks in the science. Clarke's law says "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", which excuses a lot in science fiction. But the inhuman powers exhibited by Klaatu could have used just a touch of bafflegarb to "explain" them. He is examined in detail while being "born" human; a sentence saying there were some oddities in some tissue would "explain" a connection to the technology of his ship; without that his ability to suborn our electronics is just a little too much of a deus-ex-machina.     The director obviously had a lot of hard science input. The harvester bots, self reproducing miniature scale robots large enough to see but very tiny are an excellent disaster threat. The "grey goo" threat of nano technology but more realistically rendered. Nano machines cannot move fast, and dramatically are invisible. Now practically these mite size robots really could not move as fast as pictured either, but granting some artistic license they cater to our fear of insects - the scenes of the bot cloud descending was reminiscent of several old B movie insects attack movies, particularly "The Swarm".     While I very much like this movie I think that others will not be so appreciative. As said, it is tightly scripted - perhaps too much so - and keeps a fast pace with a lot of action. But the story here, from the rationale for the invasion through the Klaatu's awakening to the value of humanity is very subtle and done much "between" the action scenes where the less attentive might presume there is little but filler. But that's where the story really unfolds to justify the eye candy.     -- TWZ