Questions

Rating: 1/10 (13 January 2006)

This film was worse than WaterWorld and worse than my Ukrainian grandmother singing in the shower. Yes, worse.
There is not much more I can add that many, many people have already commented upon, but there are a few questions I pose about the continuity:
1) A jumbo jet crashes on a house, does anyone care? No really, if a jet goes down, it make a pretty big mark on the ground. Dirt gets pushed around, fuel spilled, lots of flames and dead bodies everywhere. None of this is seen, why? Even the seats of the plane are uncharred and... empty! The whole plane?
2)What sane person would board a slow moving ferry when 200 meter tall alien war machines are walking (each step more than a city block is covered) towards you firing death rays?
3)And speaking of which... death rays? And why bury an attack vessel on the planet? Wanna take out a planet; you pitch one mile-wide asteroid at it and stand back and wait. Heck, history shows what it did to the dinosaurs. Much more efficient... and practical... and logical.
4)Why would any first rate writer, director, or actor (if there was one on this set - sorry Tom, you can't act or emote) place a the main plot (I've got to get to Boston.... for what?) above the the obvious plot (I have to survive)? Moreover, why elevate the "family dynamics" plot even higher? You've got to be kidding?! My two year old wouldn't believe that.
5)What the heck was that farmhouse scene about? No really, Tim Robbins holding up a shotgun and shouting to Tom "This way, this way", with thousands of people running around in terror, in the middle of the night? And he catches Tom's attention? Wow.....
6)The Original WOTW scared a generation and set the standard for movies to startle and challenge generations of movie-goers to come. Uhhhhh, I cannot even fathom where to begin with comparing that with WOTW 2005.
7)The whole EMP thing has been beaten to death and though I'd love to add a few whips, I really can't add more than a guffaw or two.
8)Tom driving along the highway.... and doesn't hit anybody or anything? Thousands of aimlessly wandering people (oops, that's right, they are going to.... Boston) on the highways, cars scattered, inoperable everywhere and he still manages to avoid everything? And doing so without any of the drama of his Mission Impossible motor bike stunts. More like he was driving the kids to Sunday school (or, say, Boston).
9)Ok, the gun scene where the crowd takes his mini-van. Like Tom and one other person are the only citizens to carrying firearms 'as the world is being invaded by aliens'. As a Canadian, even I laughed out loud at the thought of American citizens running around during an alien invasions, well, like a bunch of unarmed Canadians.
10)I am also amazed at how stupid the crowd is. There was an earlier comment, with kudo's to the original poster, which stated 'even a herd of sheep would have better survival instincts'. That said, and I agree, it is amazing that the crowd was organized well enough to.... post "missing" notices all over the city... like the invasion started months or years ago. In "Stalingrad" ("Enemy at the Gates") the "missing" posters were believable. In WOTW, well...., apparently an EMP will not disrupt the local Kinko's or Business Depots and everyone will be able to run off a few copies of "missing posters".
11)Lastly (only because I lack the time to go on), how is it that some people thoroughly liked this film? Including my brother, who is 39, and encouraged me to see it? I would sooner press an icecube into my eye than watch this film again - even for a laugh factor, it's not worth it.