The Day the Earth Stood Still

In an awkward semi-retro remake of the 1951 sci-fi B-movie classic, director Scott Derrickson confirms the law of diminishing returns for remakes. Keanu Reeves is his porcelain self as the alien Klaatu who arrives to earth accompanied by a gigantic metal soldier with a laser ray for eyes. Scientist Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) and her stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith) go on an extended hayride with Klaatu that pales every time the camera returns to the colossal warrior, busily changing his molecular matter to launch an overwhelming attack on the planet. The tone is all wrong for what should have been a revved-up modern take on a good sci-fi story. What you get, is spectacle-driven bombast that in recent years has generated a new genre of lowbrow populist cheese.

(20th Century Fox) Rated PG-13. 92 mins. (C) (Two Stars)