Sub-par effort from Spielberg

Rating: 5/10 (30 June 2005)

After seeing War of the Worlds last night all I can say is that I was greatly disappointed. In the Spielberg canon, this will not go alongside the likes of Jaws, Raiders and E.T., but fits more with the likes of his mediocre films (for Spielberg, anyway) such as Minority Report and The Lost World (okay, so maybe it's not that bad!) The movie just feels like Spielberg was cashing a check and a rush-job to get out "product" (which, according to the filming schedule, it appears that it was). I can say with certainty that I much prefer the 1950s version of War of the Worlds. It was much more iconic (who can forget the strange humming and hissing of the martian war machines and the effect of the death/heat ray?) and visual. Here, in this new version, it at times seems like the film sticks to the story of the "family" just so it can avoid having to show the broader scale of the alien invasion. Around the mid-point of the movie, a friend I was with turned to me and asked, jokingly but with growing frustration, "So, when is the war going to begin?" While the 2005 tripod design is interesting and much closer to Wells's novel than the more saucer-like machines of the 1950s movie, they still come across at times as too CGI-ish and don't have weight to them. Alas, when are filmmakers going to realize that models just look infinitely better if done well? As for the actual aliens, yet again this was a disappointment. Could they have looked any more like a close cousin to the invaders from Independence Day? (which, in retrospect, while still very bad, tops this in parts) What I don't have any qualms about is the ending, which is true to the book and rather ingenious (good job Mr. Wells!), although I still think that this aspect was STILL handled better in the 50s movie (war machine crashing, alien hand reaching out, etc.). With the way it was presented in this new version, however, I think the point may be lost on some viewers as to what exactly caused the aliens' downfall. Of course, in the end, all of out main characters are safe (blech!). Why couldn't Spielberg have the "cajones" to at least off one of the kids (take your pick, they were both annoying to me!) You could sense the audience collectively grimace when the son walks out in the end, proving that he made it. All in all, a greatly missed opportunity from Mr. Spielberg and Co. I give it a 5/10, which for a Spielberg movie indicates GRAVE DISAPPOINTMENT.