loved it

Rating: 10/10 (6 July 2005)

I just loved this movie. It managed to be a high action movie, which nevertheless showed sophisticated character development.
The attitude of the ex-wife, as she invades her ex's apartment and criticizes everything there, is just so perfect. Being in the middle of a divorce myself I can appreciate the subtle way they tell the story behind the divorce, without any actual narrative. The way the kids react to Cruise's character also fits precisely their ages and situation. The acting is superb. We can see that Cruise & probably also Spielberg know from divorce and custody battles.
The many other actors were simply extraordinary, especially the crazed fight for the sole working car, the scenes of masses of despairing refugees and the distraught faces of extras caught by aliens. I particularly liked the way people of different races were mixed together in suffering.
As a dedicated Cruise fan, I have been complaining a great deal that Cruise insists on making guy flicks, rather than chick flicks, even though the vast majority of his most loyal fans are women. Curiously here, despite this clearly being a guy flick, i.e. LOTS of explosions, there are some distinctly chick flick aspects in the interactions of the characters. I was also glad to see Cruise acting with kids. He does well with that.
My biggest admiration for Tom relates to his kinetic genius. Therefore the scenes of him running were a treat. Tom runs so very beautifully. There was even one scene which showed that he can still do that super-fast run that he showed us in "Risky Business," when his character there was late for school -- over 20 years ago. It's amazing that Tom is still able to run like that. This man dances as much as he acts -- with every muscle in his body.
The special effects were especially well done. The CG characters were not plagued by the kind of blurry, jerky motion that one often sees.
If you dissect this movie into 2 parts, the guy flick part and the chick flick part -- you see that the guy flick part has a solid ending, but the chick flick part is a cliff hanger. I do wonder what is going to happen to Ray.