Rating of
2/4
An Inconvenient Truth... with Extreme Prejudice
Chris Kavan - wrote on 12/13/08
Oh somewhere Al Gore is laughing and weeping. Remakes in general are a gamble - remakes of beloved classics even more so. Granted, the original Day the Earth Stood still might not be Casablanca or Gone with the Wind, but it's a science fiction classic none-the-less.
So it's 2008 and how does Hollywood decide to update such a film? Like they always do: throw in some nifty special effects, update the story to reflect some modern calamity (in this case the environment) and shove a feel-good family story in for good measure. Not surprisingly, the results are less than stellar, though it could have been worse.
First off, casting Keanu Reeves as Klaatu is a bit of an oddity. He plays the alien rather well - maybe a bit too well. His range of emotions ranges from uncaring and robotic to... slightly caring and still robotic. Whether he's watching someone die, saving someone's life, being interrogated or rocking out to some Bach - I don't think his expression ever changes.
Our female lead is Jennifer Connelly, a widowed scientist of some renown who ends up being Earth's best chance of survival by pleading and generally giving puppy-dog eyes to Klaatu for most of the film. The feel-good family part comes from Jaden Smith, her step-son who misses his dad and reflects the general populace response of kill first, ask questions later when it comes to aliens. Of course there's a big tearful scene towards the end that melts the heart of our alien visitor and shows him the true meaning of Christmas... I mean mankind.
Supporting cast is relegated to bit players, including the highly entertaining John Cleese, who should have been a main character, now THAT would have made a good movie. Anyway, Kathy Bates sleepwalks as the Secretary of Defense who must bow to the president's demands. Robert Knepper as a gung-ho general and James Hong as another alien with a McDonald's fixation.
Characters aside, the story isn't much better. Another swipe at mankind's destructive tendencies, only instead of nuclear war this time, it's about our reckless behavior regarding the earth itself. We've heard this message before, and by this time it's less than earth-shattering.
The saving grace of the film should be the special effects, but if you've seen the trailers, you've pretty much already seen the coolest parts of the film. Sure, you get to see more of Gort, but that's really all you get and even he (it?) isn't all that impressive. It's adequate, but nothing that amazed me.
In fact, that pretty much sums up this remake: adequate. Just go into the film pretending like the original never happened, and you'll get more enjoyment out of it, but if you dwell on the original, you'll realize how much better the trip is the first time around.
