Good, but not Great

Rating: 7/10 (2 July 2005)

This Spielberg film is no Jurassic Park or Jaws as far as action yarns go, but it is good entertainment. I am a fan of this genre, both sci-fi and alien invasion actioner, and I have been a lifelong Spielberg fan, but I could not say that War of the Worlds is worthy of the hype. Like, I would probably not even buy it on DVD. Also, the audience reaction was tepid at my screening... no applause or spontaneous cheering or laughing. People just filed out as soon as the ending credits started.
(spoilers) I felt that after an excellent and exciting opening act (with plenty of destruction and a thrilling chase), the film goes to sleep in a too long middle act (hiding and in-fighting among the humans), and finally limps to the well-known conclusion (I had hoped Spielberg would do something creative here, something like the Independence Day twist). Also I thought that there were too many lucky coincidences experienced by the main characters (like repeatedly surviving close proximity encounters with the very deadly, very scary alien vehicles). There is much maneuvering and drama surrounding the Tom Cruise character's imperfect relation with his kids, who remain consistently and frustratingly uncontrollable throughout the film despite the obvious peril and mayhem around them.