All's well that ends H.G. Well's

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2005)

Spielberg and Cruise have a passion for movies. This is the first hurdle many critics fall at, and whilst this is an adaptation it is also a popcorn sales catalyst. Plot holes and mistakes so obvious to even the 12A kiddie audience seem justified by big bangs, thrills, spills, shocks, knocks, and aliens. Big. Aliens. It's true that the movie can be seen in three different parts, the first being a quick build up and focus on naturalistic abnormalities as the first Lightning and Bangs strike. The second and for the majority of the film a 'saving private Ryan' camera style as the Ferriers escape invading Alien tripods; forget the highbrowed crassness of Independence Day this is brutal realism and 'dead eye' surrealism working in a graceful harmony in some sort of sick and twisted kind of Goethian Nightmare. It surprises any expectations of the level of violence within its 12a context; some moments are genuinely scary, or at the least, heart pounding. Cruise then flicks into stand alone Heroic Cliché mode with the third and final stage; which seems abrupt, pointless, and shockingly deadpanned;though some literary purists might argue it is Faithful to Well's novel this is a movie which, despite its adaptation tag; is still a Spielberg and Cruise movie from which we would demand more and some serious anarchical ending working into the vibes that might echo a 21st Century Kubrick for example; with so much initial horse power behind it this movie falls at the last hurdle, throwing the audience off with a violent jerk of the director's wrist. Hell, it coulda had class, it coulda been a contender, it coulda been something. To all intents and purposes still an exceedingly good slice of Hollywood high powered product entertainment running a refreshingly different race from other 90's disaster movies. Worth the ticket price? Well's worth it. **** a- 88% 8.5/10