Apocalypse Porn That Fails To Satisfy

Rating: 4/10 (5 July 2005)

War of the Worlds, the only summer movie to have received anything close to the usual level of hype and attention, satisfies tradition by failing to deliver on almost all counts. Conceptual artists, software engineers, production designers, code writers and CGI modelers are once again doing the job of the director, writer and actors. The Academy should retire its Oscars for anything but technical achievement for a while.
War of the Worlds has the benefit of some of the best technicians in the industry. The CGI is flawless; the exploding streets, flying debris and panicked hoards all created with utmost realism. The production design, from Ray's cluttered townhouse to Ogilvy's ruined basement, is original and surprising with a fine attention to details, and the sound design is Oscar worthy. The tripods are the real stars of the show. They are beautiful creations - sinuous, domineering and malevolent - and in a better movie would become iconic images. There are several scenes in which the tripods appear over a hilltop, backlit by moonlight, that take the breath away.
The technical aspects of the movie could not be bettered, and the Academy Awards will, in these categories, be a battle between War of the Worlds and Revenge of the Sith. The 'above the line' talent, however, as is so often the case, does not deserve such quality work.
From Jurassic Park to Mission Impossible to Spiderman, Koepp has proved his ability to write a tautly structured screenplay, successfully finding a satisfying balance between action and character. War of the Worlds has the feeling of a filler project, something thrown together in a few spare weekends. The plot consists of nothing more than having characters running from aliens until they die. Note 'until they die', for the characters do nothing to bring about their demise. The lack of even rudimentary character development makes many actions confusing and unbelievable, Ray's son sudden disappearance half way through the movie to join the army being only the most obvious. The climax, if it can be called such leaves the viewer feeling deflated. The audience I saw it with audibly groaned and filed from the cinema asking a unanimous, 'Was that it?' The lack of ANY tension, suspense, dramatic development, surprise or real character study is unforgivable. And don't blame the book. Books are changed all the time for the sake of film narrative, why make an exception now, when a change is so badly needed.
Spielberg, who can direct this stuff in his sleep, does what you would expect of him, but is happy to do no more, though we are thankfully spared the usual Spielbergian mawkish sentimentality. The performances are routine and generic, but lack anything approaching even the shallow depth of action characterization.
As an example of Apocalypse Porn, the movie works very well. Everything is blown up and incinerated with gleeful abandon, and the screaming crowds and violent mobs will satisfy any fan of the genre. The technical team should be well paid and awarded, but overall, the movie is a dud and another example of the recent trend for style over substance. Spielberg, Koepp and Cruise are all capable of far better. Let's hope they deliver soon.