Movie Review - The Day the Earth Stood Still

Dr. Helen Benson is summoned to a military facility with several other scientist when an alien spacecraft of sorts arrives in New York City. Aboard is a human-like alien and a giant robot of immense size and power. The alien identifies himself as Klaatu and says he has come to save the Earth. The US military and political authorities see him as a threat however and decide to use so-called intensive interrogation techniques on him but Dr. Benson decides to facilitate his escape. When she learns exactly what he means when he says he is there to save the Earth, she tries to convince him to change his intentions.
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After finally seeing this movie on TV the other night I can't believe all the flack it got! Roomie and I both enjoyed it, though admittedly we are both fans of Keanu Reeves, but still - come on now! It was an interesting movie set to show viewers what could happen if another race decided to defend the Earth from us. I wouldn't say it's perfect, I wanted to smack little Jaden Smith a time or two, but on the whole it was really entertaining. Keanu does what he does best and is very convincing at it. Even when he's horrifying Jaden and definitely sending his butt to the therapy I can't say it seemed as if he was acting out of character.

I would say for me this is another case of I just don't know what people were expecting. The very premise of this movie wasn't exactly very original, especially considering that it's a remake of a much older film, but it's entertaining. The visuals were good, the special effects weren't distracting, and in the end I thought both humanity and Klaatu made believable amounts of growth.

(Just as an aside, the ending totally reminded me of Escape from L.A., which until Googling it just now, I never realized was a sequel.)