Another case of writer stupidity overload. If you have a brain, you will hate this movie.

Rating: 1/10 (28 March 2012)

{Hint: No critical spoilers included.}
The premise for this movie is great. The "mythology" of the tripods is a very powerful one, and in the right hands, is almost a guarantee for a movie you will remember.
Unfortunately, this is where it stops. The main problem of this movie is clear as day: The incredible, mind-boggling stupidity of the writers. Resulting in just as incredibly stupid characters and situations. Which divides the audience into two groups: 1. People with a equal or lower intelligence will not be afflicted by this problem, and have a chance at liking it. (Well see below.) 2. People with more than half a brain, who will notice the incredibly mind-bogglingly stupid things, and *scream* at the screen from sheer pain.  They will see characters deliberately run into dangerous situations for no reason but "This is fun!" (while seeing a huge weird lightning storm) and "I *have* to see it" (trying to run straight into the fire of literally a thousand missiles/grenades/cannon shots/).  They will see the stereotypical incredibly annoying screaming spoiled little brat (every horror movie has to have one, apparently) that they just wish would die as early as possible.  They will see a parent who tries to keep his son from doing said idiotic things, even though the obvious only possible outcome means he loses his daughter *in addition* to his son.  They will see things like a huge fire caused by a exploding plane that scorches the whole basement black, but weirdly leaves a thin wooden shelf untouched, leaves the wooden stairs intact so the character can conveniently use them, and leaves the ground floor wood flooring as new with a burning jet engine on top. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
I'm not saying this as an insult, but as a statement of facts: The whole freaking thing is so dumb, I would sign a document that the writers are certified mentally disabled people any day, and easily prove it in court if necessary.
Now on to the story itself: What I expected was a big spectacle middle/finish, at least like Independence Day, or Half-Life. Something large. Something deep. Something complex. What I got instead was: "Hey, those tripod monsters are attacking us. Hey, we can't kill them. Hey, wait, that simple trick is how we can kill them." It was extremely disappointing. Like: "That's all?? You're not even trying to end the story?" Think of the disappointing end in Cloverfield times one million. Literally! What was the ending resolution in this film, is what's the end of the second short act (right after the premise) in full movies. No resolution or explanation or back story of anything. They didn't even bother.
All in all, I can only call this a "demo version" of a real movie. A really dumb real movie. There is no excuse for this. There is just no excuse for this. 1/10.