The Day the Earth Stood Still

No where do I begin reviewing the movie from. First of all, the cast is great – Keanu Reeves as Klaatu, Jennifer Conelly as Dr Helen and Jaden Smith as Jacob. All of them are great actors. I knew it was Will Smith’s son when I see that afro, really loved the hair and boy did he act his part well, particularly the scene at the cemetery when he pleaded for Klaatu to bring back his dead father before lamenting how life is unfair in a sea of tears with Helen. Watching that scene nearly brought tears to my eyes, it was already on the verge of falling but I kept it in. Heard some moviegoers sobbing though. Reeves also did a wonderful job putting a straight face acting as the alien who is trying to save Earth. I repeat, Earth and not Mankind. Jennifer Connelly was perfect for a role because she can both show her dark, strong face as well as a puss-in-boot look like in Shrek2. So I guess the casting was great.

The visual effects was nice, from the orbs to the nano metallic insects. The panning was well done with the soundtrack complementing it, especially the part where the army were firing missiles and the music was the slow call which contains no words that I know. But the only thing I found cliché was the showing of the world icons and the McDonald’s logo. Really spoils the movie.

The message of the movie was noble – that the human race is the one destroying Earth and it was justified that the elimination of one species, in this case the humans was enough to allow Earth to recover. To me, humans are the only species that is capable of destruction of such massive proportions, taking with it other species as well. I don’t think there have been such a species other than us that were capable of such damage. Nonetheless, the movie also makes an excuse for us to continue the damage, that it is in our nature and that we need to be on the brink of destruction to be able to change and evolve.

Klaatu: "If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives."

"It means so much that how humans can cause so much damage. Look around us, has the world seen anything better? Not to me.."

"Call me cynical, but this movie really drives the message of conservation, not just for the benefit of Mankind which is all we ever care about but for the survival of the planet. Sometimes we don’t realise how tangled everything is on this planet."