Le Jour où la Terre s'arrêta

Let's be blunt: this is definitely not a good movie; it's not horrid either, it's just somewhere between average and bad. There are quite a few problems. First, with the script, which tries to incorporate all elements of the 1951 movie into a new, updated whole. The end result lacks cohesion and plays more like a sequence of 5 to 10 minutes scenes badly sewn together, the prime objective of each scene being either to introduce an element taken from the original movie or, on the contrary, an idea absent form the1951 original, instead of simply advancing the story. Second, the direction: poor, poor, poor. Third, some of the worst acting I have seen in a mainstream movie for a long time; I found the leads, especially Keanu, quite good but the other actors are decent at best, with Katie Bates delivering a frighteningly catastrophic 'performance'. I was not shocked (positively or negatively) by all the other aspects of the film.

Coming out of the theater, I found myself pondering about this remake and the 1951 original. I find the Robert Wise movie quite good, but not the masterpiece some claim it to be. I was therefore ready to accept a remake and the few new ideas offered by the 2008 movie made me painfully aware that a remake could indeed have been interesting, had it been put in better hands or, if I dare say so, in much better hands. So, to me, it's another sadly missed opportunity.

Jaden Smith is the worst part of this entire film! He alone makes it almost unwatchable!

I feel bad for everyone that worked on this film, one spoiled rotten brat wrecked the entire thing. It's his dad's fault he's been unleashed on the American public the way he has. Must we continue to suffer or can he just retire already?

I second another reviewer who said they'd have given it 10 stars if the movie ended with his character being killed. Not only was his acting horrible but the classic kid character that's annoying, makes trouble, doesn't listen and runs away causing problems totally ruined everything that could have been good. If our survival as a species depended on this kid representing us, we'd have been wiped out immediately, just like this movie's good ratings.

Good movie except for every scene with Jaden Smith