The day the earth stood still

More like 'The movie during which time stood still' HAHAHAHA. But despite this being a rotten tomato, and probably an insult to the original that I've not seen, I found it a perfectly acceptable way to kill an afternoon. More to the point it gave me something to write about.

Keanu Reeves gets possessed by a glowing ice-cube at the beginning of the film and then gets all jumped up and thinks he can tell humans they're rubbish.

As with other disaster films there is the calm phase showing the characters who will be involved and why; ie the person with a relevant profession. Other film examples include: fighter pilot, industrial driller, geologist, meteorologist and in this film xeno-biologist?
Seriously is that a real thing? So is their job essentially to make up some aliens and tell people about their made-up physiology? Cushdy.

Then the panic phase 'our weapons are useless!'
Then the despair phase 'hold me'.
And the ultimate inevitable victory 'AMERICA!'. That's not a spoiler, you knew it from the word go.

Anyway the always watchable Jennifer Connolly drags her black stepchild (Jayden Smith) around with this stone faced alien dude as they desperately try to save the world from a giant cylon in central park.
Glowing bubbles appear round the world which we find out are to collect the earth's biodiversity. Klaatu (Reeves) tells Connolly that he is here to save the earth, but here's the twist people, he's here to save it from us!

Environmental dilemma introduced. What makes us so special that we, one species, can alter the world to the detriment of nigh on all other species? Well lots of things actually, but the sentiment is one I can sympathise with.

This is a change from the original where humans must be wiped out because they're a danger to other planets. It reflects the changing anxiety of the time, in the 50s it was nuclear war, today it's environmental damage.

John Cleese makes a cameo as a professor, which was quite amusing. He tells Klaatu that people only change at the precipice, only when faced with destruction will humanity change.
I thought you had a point there John, unfortunately global warming kind of threatens to do that and no one seems to care.

Anyway, Reeves is softened up by the sight of Jayden crying for his dead father, which is actually the best bit of acting in the film (Jayden's crying not Keanu standing there, don't be ridiculous).

In the end Klaatu sees the virtue in humans that James Hong did (he plays an old alien that's been on earth for ages and gone native). He decides to save the humans but warns that it will come at a price. Fine whatever just do it!

When he stops the swarm of alien wasps from tearing the the world a new one, calm descends over the earth.  People can't believe it, 'we're alive! Wait a minute, my phone's not working, or the lights, or the microwave, please god no... there's no internet. He's taken away technology! Why didn't he just kill us?!'.