It was okay, I guess

Rating: 4/10 (1 July 2005)

All these reviewers are having a field day telling you what was so very improbable about this movie (houses left standing, electronic equipment working). Seriously, it's not important. You don't care. And it has nothing to do with whether or not this is a good movie or not. Even if every little nuance in this film was dead-on technically accurate, it wouldn't help.
The terrible truth is, idiosyncrasies or not, this movie is nothing special--whether it's believable or not. It doesn't live up to the hype, it doesn't live up to the trailers. What could have been a great alien invasion movie with major special effects (to be expected from Spielberg), suspense and terror--winds up being a ride on the Kiddie Coaster at the Fairgrounds on a Sunday afternoon.
The plot seems to center on Tom Cruise's character's immaturity, family values, responsibility, blah, blah, blah. It is not about alien invasion. That, sadly, is just something that happens to be going on in the background, during all this other family drama. And unfortunately for us, who expected this movie to even remotely resemble the original renditions of this story, it's unacceptably boring.
I've been waiting months for this movie to come out. I entered the theater totally expecting what was hyped to be delivered. What a letdown. No increased heart rate, no sharp intake of breath, no 'close my eyes because I don't want to see this part'.
When I came in there were 3 little boys (probably around 10 years old) sitting in my row. I thought "wow, this is probably going to be pretty intense for these kids". I tell you, they looked as bored as I was and more interested in their popcorn and candy than the movie at times. When Mom turned to them when it was over and said "So, what did you think?" I heard the kid closest to me reply, "It was okay, I guess". That about hits the nail on the head.
You know how people tell you that you have to see this at the theater on the big screen? Well, they're wrong. (Yeah, yeah, the sky looked cool, but for effects, as a whole, this movie was lacking. I'm thinking 'Tremors'... 'any B movie I've ever seen'.) This is one movie that I don't think will lose anything on your 25" Sony (because it's got nothing to lose to begin with). Wait for the video. I predict it'll be out in a month.