The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film) writing that the generally poor reception for the film was "a sad fate for a surprisingly sincere tribute to Robert Wise's 1951 classic." Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" 'congratulated' Keanu Reeves's performance and wrote in his review that "This contemporary remake of the science-fiction classic knew what it was doing when it cast Keanu Reeves, the movies' greatest stone face since Buster Keaton." A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" was not impressed with Reeves' performance, commenting that "even Klaatu looks bored and distracted, much as he did back when we knew him as Neo." William Arnold
Keanu Reeves on what I have already made for the next few centuries." It has been reported that Reeves gave approximately $80 million of his $114 million earnings from "The Matrix" sequels, "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions", to the special effects and makeup staff. The story has been denied by special effects staff themselves as an urban legend. The story likely had its roots in a back-end deal Reeves made with the producers of "The Matrix Reloaded", relinquishing his contractual right to a percentage of the earnings from the ticket sales. Reeves reportedly did so to allow producers the flexibility