Robert Wise’s science-fiction classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still” made the most of Americans’ dread toward extraterrestrial presences and Cold War conflicts, while depicting an unexpected alien invasion that turned usual situations upside down.

However, UFOs represent the least of our problems nowadays, when everybody concentrates on the economic crisis, job cuts and reductions of costs.

Therefore, 20^th Century Fox failed to make the best choice when it decided to create a remake of the 1951 production, in spite of the fact that the current alien story is covered in an eco-friendly and more up-to-date wrap. One can’t possibly modernize elements that were advanced more than half a century ago. It’s like striving to play a video tape on your DVD player. No matter how hard you try, you will never succeed, even if you own a Blu-ray.

Notwithstanding the appealing and rather suitable cast, which includes big names such as Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly, the new “The Day the Earth Stood Still” brings no real action into play.

The movie kicks off fairly encouragingly, as microbiologist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) is taken from her home without delay by a group of government agents, who are going all-out to bring together the brightest scientific minds out there in an attempt to impede a flying object from landing on Earth.

Although such an idea may initially seem fun, it loses its charm when the UFO finally lands and an alien comes out accompanied by his mechanical bodyguard, Gort, which seems less interesting than the 1951 robot.

The extraterrestrial creature going by the name of Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) looks like a human, despite the fact that he acts a little bit weird. He is stiff (it should not represent a problem for Keanu Reeves), stoic and much too somber for an alien who claims to advocate for the protection of the environment.

Klaatu’s initial beliefs with regard to humans will start to fade when he meets Helen Benson and her stepson, Jacob (Jaden Smith). He observes the relationships between people and starts to understand that first impressions are usually hectic and have little in common with reality.

These fragments, nevertheless, suggest imprecision and inaccuracy, because we are told that aliens have been visiting Earth for ages and that they have been studying human race, on the one hand, and that they seem to know nothing about people, on the other hand.

Given all the research and studies, extraterrestrial creatures have no idea about how we are like. Therefore, the film insinuates either the fact that aliens are dim-witted or that producers forgot about these little details.

Scenery retains a bizarre, ethereal side, while most scenes occur nocturnally or in dark areas, without managing to transmit the vibes of mystery, nonetheless. Humanity does not resemble humanity and out-of-this-world elements appear to be made-up, thus making moviegoers wish they had bought tickets to another movie (or rented the original).