Klaatu (Reeves) is an alien sent to Earth, along with a deadly robot called G.O.R.T, to gather the verdict on whether or not the planet should be rescued from the human population and to exact judgment based on that verdict. Instead of making contact with the humans who might actually discuss this situation, he is nearly killed by the military and taken into custody by a rather idiotic and pompous secretary of defense (Kathy Bates). Luckily Dr. Benson (Jennifer Connelly) is there to defy her superiors because - well, I don't think a real reason was ever given, something about being compassionate and believing the alien from outer space when he said he needed to talk to someone who would listen.
Dr. Benson and her son (Jaden Smith) soon become fugitives as they drive Klaatu around through the woods, stopping randomly to get some sort of advice from some sort of mathematician or scientist played by John Cleese just because.
The original movie resonated with the audience with it's themes of peace and the improvement and hope of humanity. This update shoehorns those sentiments into today's issues, throwing in a reference to Iraq for good measure. Reeves nails the part of an emotionless alien to no big surprise. None of the other actors were particularly memorable, though Smith shows that he has more than just his father's name. Unfortunately his character is written in completely unbelievable way jumping back and forth from one emotion to another and generally not acting like a real person.
The special effects are, for the most part, eye candy, but the rest of the film is like a plain cracker - nothing to really sink your teeth into. It doesn't really feel like much effort was put into making this movie. Remakes can be good, but not this time.
** (2/5 stars)
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