Klaatu (The Day The Earth Stood Still) - Keanu Reeves As Klaatu

Keanu Reeves As Klaatu

The 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still features Keanu Reeves in the role of Klaatu and Jennifer Connelly as Helen Benson. While the original Klaatu was simply of a near-human species, in the remake it is stated that Klaatu's race is not remotely human, so that Klaatu's biology was radically altered to give him a human form acquired in 1928. When asked if he was human, Klaatu merely responds that "this body is human" and that "this body feels pain" when asked about that. No description of the race is given, other than that it is "different" from humans and the look "would only frighten you". He is captured by the military but escapes with help from Helen. He meets with a man named Mr. Wu (actually another alien of Klaatu's race in disguise, who has been living on Earth) to discuss whether or not humanity should be destroyed and they both agree that it needs to be done for the good of the planet, although Wu is unwilling to leave due to his newfound love for the humans. Klaatu orders smaller spheres—previously hidden on Earth—to begin taking animal species off the planet (like an ark) and activates Gort to destroy humanity. After spending time with Helen and her stepson Jacob, as well as talking with Professor Barnhart, Klaatu decides to try to stop humanity's destruction. After saving Jacob and his mother from Gort, Klaatu sacrifices his physical form to stop Gort, setting off a massive electromagnetic pulse before his body is destroyed. The EMP destroys Gort, saving humanity, but disables all electric technology in the world to give them the first step toward saving the earth. His spaceship/sphere then departs Earth after the pulse. It is unclear whether Klaatu survived or not; his human body was destroyed, but he indicated throughout the movie that he was merely residing in it and controlling it, so its destruction may not have killed him.

There are many differences between this version of Klaatu and the original, the most obvious being his expression of emotions and view of humanity. Reeves' Klaatu shows very little emotion, and explains this is because Klaatu "is an alien entity contained in a human body, and when he is looking out of that body, he is just looking out." The filmmakers thought that it would not make sense for an alien being to act as human as Rennie's Klaatu did, and so they "decided that in the beginning he should just be very different. That involved having no natural human gestures or behavioral signs but appearing more flat and expressionless. He has a concentrated way of seeing the world."

Klaatu has a very cynical view of humans, being very strict with them. This is best shown when he is talking with Secretary of Defense Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates). He is more concerned about the Earth's botanic and animal species than humanity, almost caring nothing about them. Another, less obvious, difference is his knowledge of the planet. The original Klaatu knew nothing of Earth, and he spent most of the film learning about it to decide whether or not it should be destroyed. In the later film, another member of Klaatu's race had been sent down in advance to judge the planet. He knew enough about it to conclude that humanity should be destroyed. However, he, as well as the spy sent before him, eventually realized humanity had the potential for good and should be preserved.