Well I liked it

Rating: 7/10 (29 March 2009)

Though my opinion isn't a particularly popular one, I really did love Spielberg's take on War of the Worlds. Having seen it for the third times just recently, I have to say that it's still just as spectacular as it was when I first saw it.
If you don't know the plot, its basics are fairly simple. Divorced dad has custody of his kids for the weekend. Aliens attack and dad, not used to taking care of his kids, grabs them and tries to get them to Boston where his ex-wife is. Suffice it to say that this film's plot abandons much of the original's political commentary in favor of a simple moral family-values tale. I was aware before I saw it that a change of this sort was made, so I was able to look at the movie as a sci-fi film in and of itself, not a faithful adaptation of the original. Overall I thought that the perspective of a small family (not President or military commander or reporter or whatever else) was actually relatively new and intriguing.
It was, however, the visuals that completely won me over. Say what you will about his tendencies toward basic happy endings and conventional story telling, his shots are completely mind blowing. In particular, the scene in which Ray discovers that the aliens are harvesting people and finds himself soon to be placed in the containing cage of the alien vehicle. The view of the giant tripod standing and staring at the lone man brought to mind several Lovecraft tales and had an incredible weight that one rarely sees even in summer blockbusters. The moment is truly incredible.
Of course there are several holes in logic with the plot (the least of which being the son's survival) and the ending was ridiculously quick, almost abandoning the characters Spielberg wanted so much to develop. Still, I would say this trip is definitely worth it (do your best to try and ignore Dakota Fanning's random switching from traumatized screaming girl to the too cool for school preteen quick to run out of her father's sight and complain a lot).