Surprisingly Dark and Relentless

Rating: 7/10 (20 July 2005)

War of the Worlds surprised me. I was expecting a sugar-coated popcorn flick and almost immediately the film becomes very dark and viscous. This is certainly the most relentless "fantasy" film Spielberg has made. We essentially see the entire human race being indiscriminately annihilated by these aliens over the course of one day. I actually found it scary! I generally loathe CGI, but this film has some of the best I've ever seen. The cinematography by Janusz Kaminski is incredible and Spielberg keeps the tension high for most of the movie. The only big downside to the film is the last fifteen minutes or so where the film does a complete 180 and the Spielbergian Hollywood ending inevitably occurs. It's like the film hits a brick wall and becomes a completely different movie, making the first hour and a half loose it's power and momentum and ultimately destroying what could have been a classic. Great film, terrible ending.