the day the earth stood still

i have not seen the original movie, so i didn't exactly know what to expect. the previews make it look pretty interesting. well, mostly it was the scene where they are giving keanu reeves a lie detector test that got my attention. the basic premise is that an alien ship comes and lands on earth. the aliens have come to protect the earth, even if that means destroying all mankind.
its and interesting hook, but they didn't do a very good job of portraying it. the alien connects with jennifer connelys character and she tries to convey to him why humans are worth saving. she does a lousy job, and there's some hockey junk with her son. there is a very small part of a scientist played by john cleese who does a much better job. the film should have focused on his character instead of hers, it would have made it a much more compelling and thoughtful story. the biggest problem though comes from the special effects. some of them are really great, and some of them are really terrible, but the cardinal sin is that most of it was completely unnecessary!