Awe-inspiring

Rating: 10/10 (4 July 2005)

Spielberg exceeded expectations. This is simple-minded in it's depiction of menace the way that his early made-for-TV dazzler "Duel" was. The action is as scary and nail-biting as that in "Jaws", except here it is more disturbing and personal. The moral complexities of "A.I." and "Minority Report" are gone in favor of pure mind-bending special effects (some of the best ever glimpsed) and documentary-like realism. The tripods exist and annihilate in natural light and look utterly real. The actors (Cruise, Fanning, Roberts) are good but they really take a backseat to the dazzling horrorshow that Spielberg has put on display for us here. Remember the suspense and awe that "Close Encounters" created, only to be resolved with a sense of child-like wonder? Well, this is all of the suspense and wonder and creepiness of that film except the motivations of the aliens are strictly evil. I have to say that, despite some forgivable gaps in logic, this is Spielberg's most effective out-of-body-experience movie in years, probably since "Jurassic Park". And, similarly, it raises the bar for special effects. Unlike that film, little kids may be more terrified than elated by the action. Kudos to Spielberg for scaring the daylights out of us and giving us another masterful, truly other-worldly experience at the movies.