After covering a 1950s Classic, let me cover the Remake of a DIFFERENT 1950s Classic!
This is The Day the Earth Stood Still, the 2008 Remake by Fox to be exact.
Did this feel need a Remake?
To be fair, CGI (and computers as we know them) didn't exist when that Film was made. I can see the appeal to a modern Director.
That's not addressing the idea that you SHOULD Remake it, of course.
If you are going to remake any 1950s Sci-Fi Film, it should be The Giant Claw- it needs one!
If you don't know, the Plot involves an alien ship, a giant robot and a messenger.
Does this one improve things and/or do its own thing?
To find out, Klaatu barada nikto on...
Jennifer Connely plays a Professor/Researcher living in Washington D.C.
Insert Topical Joke about Trump Invasion of DC here.
It is here that we meet the Film's villain- at least according to 9 out of 10 IMDB Reviews.
Jaden Smith plays her Stepson, so presumably she was married to Will (who did turn down the Reeves role here).
Can I make it head canon that he's actually Will Smith from Independence Day?
She's suddenly pulled into a Government mission and placed on a helicopter full of other experts/scientists/people.
What are they there to deal with?
A glowing space ball- naturally!
They think it might be a Meteor, but then it slows down naturally, which is not a thing that they do.
It lands in Central Park and floats there as the military and people (Scientist in Hazmat suits, but nobody else!) surround it.
The Government folks really freak out when GORT appears.
In this version, he's a 28-foot robot that was clearly the inspiration for the 2014 version of the Sentinels in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
He keeps the military guys at bay, but...
Connelly runs across a glowing guy near the orb...but he got shot.
They take it/him to a Doctor, who reveals a human body underneath the glowing flesh sac (I hope you don't eat while you read this).
It turns into Reeves (since I guess the Aliens copied him from earlier) and he manages to escape the facility, showing off vague, Plot-driven powers in the process.
He ends up with Connelly, who agrees to take him places while things go down.
She also tries to convince that humanity should be spared, as the Aliens are going to wipe us out to save the Planet.
The Military take GORT (which is namedropped only once) into a base, but it is still clearly in control.
It breaks out and destroys the facility by turning into millions (if not billions) of nanite bugs!
This likely inspired a DIFFERENT Film in which Megatron can turn into a swarm of nanites.
Connelly continues to try and get Reeves to agree that humanity needs saving.
It doesn't help her case that she drags Jaden along with them!
Eventually, however, Reeves sees that humanity is special, braves the nanite swam cloud and stops it, saving the World and leaving forever (or until a possible Sequel that doesn't exist).
A Film with big heart, big goals and clearly quite big budget.
They spent $80 million on this (not adjusted for inflation) and it shows.
They spent $80 million on this (not adjusted for inflation) and it shows.
The Film is chock full of CGI, explosions and the like.
The Film does try to really have a deeper message- humanity can better itself.
This comes between exploding drones, firefights and light shows, mind you.
Director Scott Derickson- of Dr. Strange fame- does a good job here honestly. The Film just has so much going on and it is not always connected.
I'm very glad that Reeves took another role from Will Smith (he turned down The Matrix) as his style of Acting really works for the slow and gradual changes his character goes through.
Everyone here is really trying, even a surprising performance by John Cleese in a serious role!
I do feel a bit bad picking on a kid Actor (even if it is Jaden Smith), but the Film HINGES upon you caring about him and how his relationship growth with Connelly affects the Plot.
He's...not good, so try to power through the Film around him.
He's also a Narc, so...
He's also a Narc, so...
Next up, I happened to buy a Ninja Turtles Movie Set right before the Anniversary. Let's just jump right into the Films, shall we? Stay tuned...
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