: A Nobel Prize-winning physicist who argues for the evolutionary value of human altruism. Themes: Environment and Evolution

As the U.S. government, led by Secretary of Defense Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates), treats Klaatu as a hostile threat, astrobiologist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) and her stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith) become his unlikely allies. They must convince the stoic alien that humans possess the capacity for altruism and change before Gort’s "extinction plan" wipes civilization from the planet.

: Helen's stepson, whose strained relationship with her mirrors the alien's cold view of human behavior.

: The film received generally negative reviews, with critics praising the special effects and Reeves' "stone-faced" performance but criticizing the script as clichéd and lacking the depth of the original.