War of the Worlds

Steven Spielberg 2005

Aliens invade causing a bad father to mend his ways and fight to keep his family safe.

I will be honest; I was not looking forward to seeing this film. I am not a huge fan of Spielberg, I don’t like Tom Cruise and I love the original film I tried not to let that cloud my judgement but I think my initial fears where realised.

Tom Cruise attempts to play against type once more; his disinterest in his children is quite amazing. but for me Cruise always looks too polished to play a real person, he is much more fitted to playing pilots and racing car drivers.

The children in the film are annoying, Dakota Fanning as the daughter comes across as a three dimensional Lisa Simpson, bratty and precocious, while the teenage son displays such stupidity I wondered how he has managed to cross the road without dying.

There is a genuine sense of fear that you get from the film, you identify with Cruise and a few minutes into the film he and his family start running and you start running with them.

The film is essentially a big build up for a poor ending. It seems that Spielberg ran out of interest in the film and wanted to wrap it up rather quickly. At 116 minutes the last two are left to explain things.

All-in-all this film is ok, not great but ok. The special effects are good and the acting is polished but it could have been better and of course Spielberg could not resist a happy ending.