War?

Rating: 9/10 (11 July 2005)

First of all, I am probably the biggest Spielberg fan ever and I am aiming to stand next to him as a director in the years to come. I sadly have not had the privilege of seeing all his films but of those I saw this was not the best. I guess one can only make the best ever film once and that was Schindler's list, but I kinda hoped for something narratively challenging. I recognize the fact that the movie stayed loyal to the original story, but in that, it killed itself! The only character growth of Tom Cruise's character was that he didn't really communicate with his children and now he does. It's not like he didn't love them - he'd die for them in the beginning as well. I believe that every good story is about a main character who gets introduced to a problem and we go into his life for the time of the story and we see how he choose to solve the problem. Tom's character's only problem is to survive and not to actually beat the alien race. That is one aspect that I loved - the way Spielberg never actually ever introduced us to the antagonistic force in the months prior to the screening - the audience had no idea what to expect! Brilliant! Something I didn't agree with is the fact that we only see how they suddenly get to Boston where we see his son and his ex-wife again without really knowing how they got there - they ARE key elements in the story. I don't mean to sound too critical about it - it is a very very good film, I just don't get it very well. Go see it if you haven't yet; then make up your own mind!