Review: "The Day the Earth Stood Still"

Last week I had the chance to see remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still. I saw it in IMAX. I would suggest that if you go see it in theaters to see it in IMAX. Unfortunately, because Wolverine will not be released initially in IMAX it was not part of the trailers I saw. Also it is important that if you have never seen the original 1951 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still, you should make sure you see that version too. The 1951 version was anti-war. An alien came to earth to warn humanity that if we didn't clean up our act, a conglomerate of planets would wipe us out using the robot, the alien brought with him named Gort. I loved everything about that version. The 2008 version is also good. I thought that a lot of good choices were made to update the story. The main difference is that the alien gives the reason for his advent was to save the earth from us. The aliens had an ecological agenda. Gort was also not just 10 feet tall. This time he was the hieght of a small building and he seemed to employ nanite technology not just made of metal. He was a living thing. The special effects were breath-taking....especially in IMAX. I don't want to give away the ending. I thought that it lived up to the legacy of the original. It was not the better than the original....but it was just as good. I was struck by the difference. In the original, there were no major black characters and only one female lead who nearly fell in love with the alien. In the 2008 version, we not only get a black child carrying a lot of the story (Jayden Pinket-Smith) but Jennifer Connolly's character role is expanded into her being a scientist and main protaganist. In the original, I felt that the alien was the main character. Kathy Bates played the Secretary of Defense and she was the President's eyes, ears, mouth piece, and had near ultimate authority. The 1951 version had no such female character.
It is hard to re-make a classic. It did not quite make it, but I thought it was a good try.