Brilliant!

Rating: 9/10 (14 July 2005)

What a brilliant film. Easily one of the best 'aliens coming to earth' thrillers I have watched! Very rarely do you watch a film so tense the whole way through. This really had me on the edge of my seat for the entire film.
I loved how the film got started straight away. A short narration brought you up to speed and it was straight into the action. Great - there's nothing more annoying than a huge long history of how a story gets to the point where it actually begins (great example of this - Spiderman).
I thought Tom Cruise was great in the part. A hero but by no conventional means. I loved the fact, single handed, he saved his children but I also loved the fact he didn't try to save the entire world single handed. Like any normal person his priority was his own and of those closest to him. How refreshing. It pulled the film toward the 'what would you do?' perspective. And the answer to this for most people would be to take care of your family. The emotion from Cruise was immense and I loved the scene when he held his hands to his face and the look in his eyes was of sheer terror.
The only part of the film I didn't particularly like was the ending. Not so much because it was a happy one - I do love a happy ending - but more because of the way it was shot. The mother, grandparents and even Tim appeared at their door in Boston, not a scratch on them, clothes beautifully clean as if they had been quite safe in their little house. Meanwhile, devastation is all around them, Ray has gone through hell to get there, thousands are dead, but the mother's hair is intact and looking lovely! Bit of a shame they hadn't looked at least a little stressed and dirty! Also I'm sure as a mother she could have shown a little more gratitude to Ray for saving her daughter. 'Thank you' was a bit lame.
Overall though I loved this. The time spent in the cinema flew in, I think I was actually holding my breath for most of the movie as it was so exciting and one of the first films in a long time that I would immediately watch again.