The Day the Earth Stood Still

I wanted to really like this film, after all it's a remake of a bona fide Hollywood classic. In 1951 The Day the Earth Stood Still defined modern sci-fi, complete with a director who'd cut Citizen Kane (Robert Wise) and an unparalleled theremin score. Just a year after the original film was released the White House was buzzed by UFOs (July 22, 1952), an event that was widely reported in the mainstream media and that mirrored the spine of the film.
Fast forward to the present and UFOs are a fringe belief. Frankly even if flying saucers landed tomorrow on the White House lawn would people care when the economy is about to crater? Are the aliens going to revive General Motors? That would actually make for an interesting film. Not even superior alien intelligence can save the new The Day the Earth Stood Still. The film starts out in the Himalayas in the 1920s where we see Keanu Reeves alone on a mountain top. He sees mysterious lights, goes outside his tent to investigate, sees a giant glowing orb and abruptly loses consciousness. When he wakes up there is a small scar on the back of his hand. This is the filmmaker's idea of providing a backstory.
I caught TDTESS in the IMAX version and this is the worst job of blowing up a 35mm film to the 70mm IMAX format I've ever seen. For instance The Dark Knight was partially filmed in IMAX, but most films presented in this format are merely blown up to the larger format. The night scenes looked especially bad, with the city lights all blurry like the film was shot with a video camcorder. On a side note I saw the film at the Edwards Marq*e IMAX theater which is the largest IMAX screen in town. By contrast the new AMC IMAX theaters in Houston that just opened are not as large. In fact the manager at the Edwards calls them Baby IMAX.
Anywho, there are moments where the film seems like it might come alive, like the sequence where Keanu (playing Klatuu, the role played by Michael Rennie in the prototype) is taken to a secret lab by the military who ascertain that his body contains three different sets of DNA. The film never again reaches this level of sophistication.
This film is going to open big because 20th Century Fox knows how to market crap. But once word gets out that there is no logic to its science fiction it will be regulated to the bargain bin of life support systems. Kathy Bates looks embarrassed to be in the film and Jennifer Connelly just goes through the motions. Then there's her son who's positively annoying. Keanu has little to do except run from a nation wide manhunt once he escapes the military's lair. In the film's worst moment a wave of microscopic bugs mow down anything in their path like a giant storm leaving nothing but waste in their wake. Only in the next scene when they buzz across New York City to Central Park they seemingly leave all the buildings standing. Even the original movie's giant robot is miscast.
If there is any hope for humanity it would be that people forget this film and seek out the Wise version.