War of the Worlds has 'meaner', 'rougher' aliens

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2005)

War of the Worlds is quite a powerful, intense tale guided by master director, Steven Spielberg, who knows how to move things along so fast that you barely notice any inconsistencies in the plot. As summer entertainment, it serves a tasty dish. It shows wunderkind director still at the top of his game.
A father, Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise), gets to keep his two kids for the weekend as his exwife visits Boston. He barely knows his rebellious teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and is not much better with his younger daughter Rachel (an adorable Dakota Fanning). Strange phenomena begin to occur over New Jersey as mysterious sounds, lightning, clouds, and wind emanate from the skies. What follows is the shocking appearance of an alien machine from beneath the ground that shows incredible power and fires deadly rays that disintegrate humans. Curiosity turns into panic as the machines begin a reign of terror that will destroy the community. Ray switches to survival mode and thus begins a desperate flight to safety. What started out as an estranged, dysfunctional group, becomes a frightened, desperate family whose members begin to rely on one another for survival and hope. And there is not much hope as the aliens are invincible to any military force that can be leveled at them. Soon it becomes clear that the aliens are also using humans as a living resource. When they lose contact with Robbie, Ray and Rachel seek refuge in the basement of a farmhouse where a mysterious loner, Ogilvy (Tim Robbins), is willing to make a last stand. There, they play hide and seek with the aliens. Eventually Ray and Rachel come face to face with an alien machine, and what Ray does to save his girl and himself leads to the film's climax as it shifts locations to Boston. .
Spielberg pays generous homage to War of the Worlds' three previous incarnations including the original H.G. Wells novel (with its eerie horn-like sounds that precede the aliens, the crazed Ogilvy, the look of the alien machines, and the ending), the Orson Welles 1938 radio broadcast (also set in New Jersey with its unseen news reports and dark mood), and George Pal's 1953 cold war film adaptation (with its apocalyptic destruction and farmhouse sequence).
An antithesis of his kinder, gentler alien epics, Close Encounter of the Third Kind and E.T., this film features an evil menace that gives no reason or explanation as to why but rather how quickly the human race can be exterminated. There are obvious parallels with the Holocaust in the mass extermination of humans which has influenced Spielberg in recent years (Schindler's List). This has the meanness of his early television movie, Duel, with its relentless enemy. While there are thematic similarities with Independence Day, by focusing on the one family from beginning to end as opposed to a half dozen groups of characters, Spielberg draws a more intimate portrait of people we care about.
What is good about this film is that Spielberg wastes no time and gives enough exposition of Ray's fragmented family before the alien terror begins. He shows how good he is at suggesting violence. You get teased with glimpses and sounds of something unusual and frightening before the real threat reveals itself. Sometimes we only see evidence of massive destruction and death without having the event played out. It is as if we are standing on the sidelines catching enough of the event to know what is happening. The film's pacing is very good, and the production values are outstanding. Of significant note, this mega-budgeted film took only seven months to make, an incredibly efficient shoot! Spielberg knows how to utilize state-of-the-art special effects in an organic, believable way without being artificial or self-conscious of its technique. The effects, spearheaded by veteran Dennis Muren (Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park), are extremely impressive, and they all look convincing. Nothing looks phony, and anything that is an effect looks like it is really happening.
The acting is strong, and Cruise and Fanning are delightful in their energetic, emotional performances. Robbins registers in a creepy supporting role, and Miranda Otto (Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King) is effective as Cruise's exwife. Chatwin (reminding one of a young Jake Gyllenhaal) seems weak and doesn't show enough of his character while interacting with Cruise, but this may be a fault of the script.
Surprisingly, the strong emotional ties that characterized E.T. and Close Encounters are not as evident here. We see Fanning's character traumatized by her surroundings and we see Cruise's character trying to connect with his kids as he fights to save them at every turn. Spielberg needed a bit more interplay and meaningful dialogue between father and daughter, and it would have been a perfect realization of paternal bonding.
The final scene, however, does not ring true regarding the fate of Ray's family-the only glaring fault of the film that seems unrealistic given all that has transpired. Its resolution seems almost a nod to the classic western, The Searchers. There are also other film references like a brief scene from The Greatest Show on Earth or a familiar sound effect from the 1953 War of the Worlds. Watch for cameos of Gene Barry and Anne Robinson near the end; they starred in the 1953 classic.
War of the Worlds is a tense, exciting amusement park ride through a scary funhouse, and when it ends, you are glad to have survived the event.