Cast: Keanu Reeves (as Klaatu), Jennifer Connelly (as Dr. Helen Benson), Jaden Smith (as Jacob Benson), John Cleese (as Prof. Barnhardt)

Plot: An Alien Visitor with a mission to destroy the Earth!

Review: The movie is based on a short story, and was first adapted into a movie in 1951 with the same title. Despite the shortcoming of the special effects in 1951, it was a classic, considering that there was a fascination with anything UFO and/or aliens. The movie is based on a humanoid alien visitor, named Klaatu (played by Keanu Reeves) and his robotic destroyer, Gork, who visit the Earth to save specimens of all different life forms (plant and animals) and then destroy human race, so that Earth can heal itself from all the damage done by the human race over centuries of existence. Klaatu is a resident of another planet, who value’s the life supporting property of the Earth too much to let is go to waste! and therefore, his goal is to destroy everything humans have done to it.

In the process however, Klaatu comes in contact with Dr. Helen Benson (played by Jennifer Connelly) and her son, Jacob (Jaden Smith, yes Will & Jada Pinkett Smith’s son!, also of “the Pursuit of Happyness” fame!) and realizes that human race can change its path to self-destruction, given a chance to change it’s ways. Klaatu saves the Earth from the destruction that Gork has unleashed, and leaves Earth.

Having watched the original classic of the same title, I was thrilled to see the developments in graphics that can effect the movie’s story line. The most notable differences between the two movies is the change in the location of alien landings, to Central Park in New York from the Mall in Washington D.C., Glowing Sphere instead of the flying saucer, death and resurrection of Klaatu in the original, and changes in the story line to reflect Klaatu as the savior in the new one as compared to Dr. Benson in the original classic.

All in all not a bad movie, but something that never had too much substance anyways to support a remake.

Rating: 3 of 5