Great action & suspense - mediocre acting, story and ending

Rating: Null/10 (28 June 2005)

The special effects are great. The horror of mass death and devastation is powerfully rendered and there are some incredibly suspenseful moments. Spielberg is still better at this than his imitators.
But Cruise is miscast, and even though the film tries hard to build a credible family conflict, it just doesn't draw you in. Dakota Fanning is good, however, I don't think she overacted at all.
There's not much variation from scene to scene: The same basic "running & hiding from the tripods" scenario plays out in a few different ways, and there's just the faintest trace of character development.
The ending feels abrupt & the story incomplete. Probably because the defeat of the aliens and the family conflict are not truly integrated.
Still, it's not a bad movie.