An expensive B-Grade movie relying on big names and the franchise to make it money.

Rating: 4/10 (1 July 2005)

I really enjoyed the last collaboration between Spielberg and Cruise in Minority Report. Therefore I waited with baited breath for this highly touted blockbuster. I was left somewhat disappointed. Being very familiar with all versions of 'War of the Worlds'(WOTW) could possibly be a hindrance to the enjoyment...
On the whole the movie is very slow with intermittent spurts of excellent special effects. Spielberg has tried to bring a totally human side to the story told from the perspective of a irresponsible separated father (Cruise). However, I found the interplay of human emotions amidst the Invasion very superficial and at times downright frustrating. What was achieved so brilliantly in Signs, was a huge failure in WOTW It begins slowly setting the stage with introducing Cruise's character and his irresponsibility as a father. You wonder why he allows his ex-wife and partner carte blanch through his house without a barely audible whisper of dissent. His kids are spoiled, uncontrollable and devoid of any respect for their father. However when the 'storm' approaches Spielberg treats the audience to a successful degree of thrill and suspense. When you see the tripod and its actions for the first time it fulfills the suspense.... then things go downhill badly.
You feel like screaming at the kids to shut up, and the story degenerates into bickering. Meanwhile you don't see much action of the tripods just the resultant chaos. The ferry scene so reminiscent of the soundtrack was an absolute letdown as there is no cheer and partial hope of a 'Thunderchild'. In fact the scenes were chaotically done to the point of it not really making a lot of sense.
The whole scene on top of the hill between Cruise and his son was so pathetic its best left unsaid.
Tim Robbins acted superbly as the token 'artillery man' but his character was written so incredibly annoying, coupled with the girls incessant stupidity it became a test of patience to sit through the movie.
All through this we see very little of the tripods though we do get a glimpse of the actual aliens and they seem to be stolen directly from the set of ID4.
The ending is atrocious, corny and unbelievable. In fact we as an audience have to suspend belief to logic in quite a few areas. I for one was glad when the movie finished. This is by far Spielberg's worst movie and it will only make money on his, Cruise and the WOTW franchise name.