This weekend saw the release of the latest in the long line of 'OH MY GOD Why are they remaking that???!?' chain of remakes, The Day the Earth Stood Still" starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelley.
With the original being in my Top 10 favorite movies of all time, you can understand that I'm confused, perplexed and a bit angry at the prospect of a "Day the Earth Stood Still" remake. Sure, the cold war's over so the overall tone of the movie is a bit out dated, but then again in this modern age, it's starting to come full circle once again. Regardless, they want to chance the scope all together.
In an interview with MTV in March, Keanu said:
A modern update is fine. I can live with it. The environment is a definite issue, in the long term a world threatening issue as "Wall-E" has pointed out. So I can buy it for a modern retelling of such a classic. But the question still remains: Why? The original movie was so well crafted and acted that it hardly begs for a modern retelling. Even the morals of the story still ring true as we roll into yet another year of the Iraq war. Again, I can buy into the environment issues, but the story doesn't need to be changed; the threat of man vs. man still exists.
All that aside, the trailer is well done and actually looks pretty decent. For me, the biggest insult to the original film is casting Keanu Reeves in the role of Klatuu, but who knows maybe he'll surprise us. The final glimpse of Gort is a bit of a relief as it shows they didn't stray too far from the original. In closing, what the hell's with the killer fog taking out buildings? That will be the biggest mystery when I finally get to lay eyes on this thing come December.
Klatuu, Barada, Nikto.