The Day The Earth Stood Still is a decently made, well-paced Sci-fi thriller/disaster film. It's based on the acclaimed 1951 sci-fi classic with the same title.
After a mysterious shining sphere descending to the Central Park, NY, the whole world starts to panic. A beautiful micro-biologist(Jennifer Connelly) was one of the top scientists sent to investigate the sphere. Not knowing the consequences coming with violence, the army shot at the alien coming out of the sphere. Lately, the alien survived and transformed into the human form for only one purpose--to warn the whole human being...
Well, we all know the original film was made during the Cold War, which the film's theme was relevant to. Half a century later, the earth hasn't be destroyed by nuclear weapons but is already saturated with this type of movies, and people are more skeptical than ever before. In my perception, "Alien come to earth for salvation" theme is not fresh anymore, and the movie's concept is very roughly implemented, due to the unconvincing story. Basically the film assumes there are superior life forms from outer-space civilizations, without explaining more about such civilizations. The alien, palely portrayed by Keanu Reeves, carries out his mission without serious sense. He decided that human can't be persuaded and can't change their destructing nature based on how a group of people treated him. Later, he abandoned the prior decision based on the perception of a woman's selflessness to her child. I mean, doesn't he have to investigate more into the human society to make the decision, when the decision is to kill all the human or not? Doesn't he learn enough about mother-son relationship before he "feel" the affection between human before he made the final decision? Doesn't he even learn human philosophy so he would know that what's right about an individual is not necessarily right about the whole society? Or, does he only have the concept of species instead of individual? The movie simply rises more questions like this, draining out energy from the main theme. So, I am sorry but the movie can't convince me at all. I admit the pace is good, the visuals are fine and some performances are nice, but they are all just stylish wrapping outside a hollow concept.
It's supposed to be a movie make you think, but it turned out to be a movie make money from you and let you go without being touched.
6/10
After a mysterious shining sphere descending to the Central Park, NY, the whole world starts to panic. A beautiful micro-biologist(Jennifer Connelly) was one of the top scientists sent to investigate the sphere. Not knowing the consequences coming with violence, the army shot at the alien coming out of the sphere. Lately, the alien survived and transformed into the human form for only one purpose--to warn the whole human being...
Well, we all know the original film was made during the Cold War, which the film's theme was relevant to. Half a century later, the earth hasn't be destroyed by nuclear weapons but is already saturated with this type of movies, and people are more skeptical than ever before. In my perception, "Alien come to earth for salvation" theme is not fresh anymore, and the movie's concept is very roughly implemented, due to the unconvincing story. Basically the film assumes there are superior life forms from outer-space civilizations, without explaining more about such civilizations. The alien, palely portrayed by Keanu Reeves, carries out his mission without serious sense. He decided that human can't be persuaded and can't change their destructing nature based on how a group of people treated him. Later, he abandoned the prior decision based on the perception of a woman's selflessness to her child. I mean, doesn't he have to investigate more into the human society to make the decision, when the decision is to kill all the human or not? Doesn't he learn enough about mother-son relationship before he "feel" the affection between human before he made the final decision? Doesn't he even learn human philosophy so he would know that what's right about an individual is not necessarily right about the whole society? Or, does he only have the concept of species instead of individual? The movie simply rises more questions like this, draining out energy from the main theme. So, I am sorry but the movie can't convince me at all. I admit the pace is good, the visuals are fine and some performances are nice, but they are all just stylish wrapping outside a hollow concept.
It's supposed to be a movie make you think, but it turned out to be a movie make money from you and let you go without being touched.
6/10