Klaatu, Barada Say What?

Even though I still haven't seen the original, I felt like watching the Keanu Reeves' The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008).

It really stars Jennifer Connelly as an astrobiologist who is suddenly woken up by the military and hustled off to Manhattan on a secret mission. They ignore her step-son, Jaden Smith (son of deceased husband by his first wife), but fortunately a neighbor is able to take him in. 

The mission turns out to be an asteroid heading directly for Earth, impact in minutes. The asteroid turns out to be a spherical spaceship, which stops at the last instance in the middle of Central Park. A creature comes out, and in a moment of confusion, is shot. A giant robot who accompanies him gets ready to destroy, but the creatures hastily orders him to stand down. This is the "Klaatu barada nicto!" moment, but it is so distorted you can barely hear it. Bummer.

The creature turns out to be a sort of amniotic spacesuit, which falls off and the being inside quickly becomes Keanu Reeves. He explains that he is here to save the Earth from humanity. When the military tries to hold him prisoner, he breaks out and runs for Connelly.

Connelly brings him together with mathematician and philosopher John Cleese, who is able to make a pretty good case for mankind. But little Jaden is pretty P.O.ed with his step-mom, claiming she never wanted to keep him after his dad died. So Reeves picks up quite a bit of negativity too. He has a funny relationship with Reeves. When they are stopped by a cop, Reeves kills him, then resurrects him. Smith is horrified by the murder, but impressed by the resurrection. He seems to want to make Reeves a father figure, but also considers him a murderous alien.

The giant robot, named GORT by the military based on a very clunky acronym, is being held in a sort of missile silo. When he goes active, they try to destroy him, which doesn't work. So he starts his mission. He sort of disintegrates into a swarm of nano-robots and begins destroying all man-made objects.

We watched this on a Friday night in a rather drowsy state. I might not have been maximally attentive, but I did like some of the dreamlike imagery: the looming, red visored GORT, Reeves' intense, yet inhuman acting, the sphere in Central Park, the many nighttime scenes. I'd say we watched it in the best way.

We'll save the original for Spooktober, coming up soon.