"The Day The Earth Stood Still" is a perfect example of why Hollywood just can't - can't - help themselves. The original movie, directed by Robert Wise, was a serious movie about the threat of nuclear war, and how an alien named Klaatu comes to Earth to warn us about how we're going to kill each other if we aren't careful. Something tells me we haven't learned much from Klaatu's message, and so a remake actually made sense. Sadly, that whole message of warning us against killing each other has been changed to how we're killing the Earth, and it follows the "green mentality" that the Earth would just be better off without us. I can't tell you how much I despise this message, but whatever, I have a review of "The Day The Earth Stood Still"to write.
The protagonist of the film is Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), an astrobiologist who aids Klaatu (Keanu Reeves, playing his ususal one-note personality) in his escape from government control. She also, coincidently, is the only person willing to talk to the alien rather then interrogate him. Not that Klaatu is impressed much; he still wants to kill humans anyway. In his eyes they are a destructive race, unwilling to compromise or listen. Since the president has ordered a "shoot first, shoot second" command without attempting to speak to him, maybe Klaatu has a point about that whole "destructive race" thing he keeps complaining about. Helen also has a step son named Jacob (Jaden Smith), who is the son of her deceased husband, who is a product of his deceased life, who Helen now takes care of.
See, Hollywood just can't help themselves. After all, why be a single mom when you can be a single mom of a son from a husbands previous marriage? Oh, and for the record, the kids a whiner you'll want to slap. And now we get to the meat of why this movie doesn't work: Everything, and I mean everything, is unnesscary bigger and more complicated then it needs to be. Remember Gort from the first movie? The indestructible robot who came to life whenever Klaatu's life was in danger? Well, he's back, but why stop at an indestructible robot when you can make him the size of the Empire State Building while you're at it?
For that matter, when you've got tanks and soldiers hunting you down, what could it hurt to throw in some military jets as well? To shoot something down that's standing still no less. I guess you might assume that the special effects bothered me about this remake, but not really. I think it's overboard, but I expected that anyway. No, the movie fails because it's characters are uninteresting and dumb, the message grating, and the intelligence is missing. The title itself has even lost it's poetry in this remake, feeling more like an afterthought then an actual part of the story. This movie received an $80 million dollar budget, and they couldn't spend any of that on a decent screenplay writer? Oh well, what did I expect: Hollywood just can't help themselves.
In your last comment though, do note (spoiler) that the metallic locusts all "die" and at the same time all the energy from cars, etc., are all sucked away. The the "Earth" is "Still" at the end. But why and what happened to Klaatu is never explained. Disappointing.