Poor Keanu Reeves, he tries so hard to be taken seriously, and yet many people just can’t get past his “surfer dude” accent that seems to haunt him in every movie. On top of that, it almost seems like he downplays his performances to avoid any comparisons to rocker persona in the ‘Bill and Ted’ movies. But he remains a success in Hollywood, good for him, but unfortunately bad for us. For it doesn’t help that Mr. Reeves is often casted in science fiction films that are big on effects and ideas but short on character and plot. This list of films includes ‘Johnny Mnemonic,’ ‘The Matrix’ movies, and now a remake of a practically unremakable classic ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still,’ a film that’s too overblown to be meaningful and yet too underwhelming to be impressive.

For those who haven’t seen the original 1951 masterpiece, the film is about a human looking alien named Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) who comes to our planet to see if it is worth keeping alive. The argument is whether or not the species known as man is too destructive to let loose on the rest of the universe before they evolve far enough to travel past space and time. Well if all humans were like mother Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) and her son Jacob (Jaden Smith), then I’d say bring on the incinerator. Helen is a scientist who is brought aboard to study the alien Klaatu and eventually helps him escape, convinced the U. S. military is going to mistreat him. Her relationship with her son is troubled, in that they have absolutely no relationship what so ever. It turns out she married Jacob’s father who died just a year later, so the two of them have a hard time getting along as she is not his original mother, and boy she doesn’t act like either. Connelly’s performance in this movie is more like a babysitter than it is a mother, and her son is either far too intelligent for his age or far too bratty, not at all like a real child who’s going through tough emotional pain.

But you don’t care about that, what about all the explosions and alien stuff that was promised in the trailers? Sad to say even people looking for a good action film might find this film lacking in excitement. Klaatu has giant, indestructible bodyguard nicknamed GORT who can zap and destroy anything around him if he deems it a threat. Sounds thrilling enough, but he spends most his time turning into a swarm microscopic bugs who can eat up and disintegrate anything and anyone in his path (I think most people would prefer the explosions). Most of the film is watching Klaatu observe and complain about how Earth is a horrid place and watching Connelly’s character argue how much love there is on their planet even though she is constantly neglecting her own son. The climax has a few land marks getting sucked up by GORT’s bugs, but aside from that there is little human analysis or impressive effects that can keep the story afloat.

Fans of the brilliant Robert Wise film will no doubt pass over this remake once they hear that the style and sophistication of original actor Michael Rennie is replaced by the stale and wooden acting of Keanu Reeves. The themes of the 1951 version still hold up today, and could be addressed even better with a war going on and still no finding of world peace in sight. This remake simply touches upon those issues, never really exploring it or trying to understand it. Whereas the original film was spent analyzing everything from war to family to religion, this film’s focus seems to be on Klaatu analyzing the Connelly’s relationship with her son. Unfortunately when the relationship is too simple and poorly written to be the least bit realistic, the film fails. There’s a scene near the end where the mother and son have a talk about they feel about the father’s death. This conversation would’ve taken place a day, at the most a week after the father’s death. But a YEAR? There is nothing credible about that. It’s easy to understand how a child and mother don’t connect under such circumstances, but these characters are so removed from reality that there is no way we can sympathize with them, and when that is the focus of your movie, you’re in big trouble.

The effects are of course upgraded and more flashy than the original cardboard cutout UFOs in the original, but they don’t feel real like in the other film. When you saw the panic and intrigue on people’s faces in the original, you completely believed there was an alien there, in this one, everything feels so phony and artificial that nothing about it seems real, genuine, or above all, original. The only reason to do a remake is if you can either improve on the original or offer a different variation which lends itself to interesting ideas. Here, nothing is improved upon or handled different enough to take notice of. It is simply the first film light, and if that’s what you’re being offered, why not watch the original film that inspired this mediocre version? Heck, even creatures in space can tell you that would be the logical conclusion, so your best bet would be to see the original masterpiece and analyze why so many people thought it was great to begin with.

So who’ll like it? Maybe die hard Keanu Reeves fans. I guess people who refuse to see black and white movies might enjoy the few solid themes and ideas that they got from the original film (though I do strongly suggest just seeing the classic Robert Wise film instead)

Who won’t like it? Fans of the original (duh), but also people looking for an action packed, special effects show will most likely be disappointed. There are few explosions and few exciting moments.

My thoughts? The film isn’t horrible when not comparing it to the original, it’s just not very good. Time and time again we have learned that update effects mean nothing if you don’t have a solid story and gripping characters to keep you interested. The original film was a stunning social commentary that had a great story, great characters, but lousy effects. This film has update effects, but lacks everything else. There are no improvements or variations that make the film worth looking at, instead it is probably best to analyze why they remade this film to begin with. What holds up? What stays true? And why will that version forever be timeless while this version will quickly be forgotten? Take a look, and you may see something that goes beyond effects and celebrities, you may find something more important than that, you may find just plain and simple good storytelling.

Douglas Darien is a featured writer for Xomba.com. Read the rest of his work here or visit his website www.thatguywiththeglasses.com.