The 2008 remake of Robert Wise’s 1951 “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” which depicted an alien visit to our planet in an attempt to draw attention to the destructive nature of human actions, especially that of wars, opened Friday in the U.S. to rather poor reviews.

Starring Keanu Reeves as the alien Klaatu that lands his spacecraft in New York’s Central Park prepared to bring mankind to its demise as punishment for having done harm to the other living creatures on the planet, the movie has been deemed as unfit for our times.

Back in 1951, when Americans feared UFOs and were leading their lives amidst Cold War tensions, a production sending a message of peace and showing the aftermath of major conflicts between nations managed to push the right buttons and come into critical acclaim.

Nevertheless, in current times of economic crisis, a sci-fi movie doesn’t quite get its message across to people, since the latter are more concerned with their own day-to-day hardships than with an alien invasion come to put an end to the world.

With only one human willing to listen to Klaatu, expert in astrobiology Dr. Helen Benson, portrayed by Jennifer Connelly, who also tries to show the alien that mankind can actually change for the better, „The Day the Earth Stood Still” falls short of the original even in terms of sci-fi effects. Even though it features peculiar landscapes and sets most of its scenes at night and in claustrophobic locations, the movie is unable to create the feeling of panic and increasing anxiety that should shroud both the characters and the audience.

The production was directed by Scott Derrickson, with a script written by David Scarpa and based on the screenplay by Edmund H. North and its cast also includes John Cleese as Professor Barnhardt, Jaden Smith as Helen Benson’s stepson Jacob and Kathy Bates in the role of Secretary of defense Regina Jackson.