Needs tighter directing and a better screenplay

Rating: 6/10 (29 June 2005)

I was anxiously anticipating the release of this feature. My wife, friends and I walked away today very disappointed. When Steven Spielberg is on his game, he's brilliant. When he lets down his guard and loses focus he runs to excess and banality. The FX are truly superb...murky and terrifying...evoking the mood of the 1898 novel. The screenplay, lackluster dialog, poor editing and Tom Cruise crying out incessantly, "Rachel, Rachel, Rachel", however, left our 11:30 A.M. audience restless, silent and apparently bored. The mood coming out of the show was NOT good. Spielberg blew the chance to make a definitive version of the H.G. Wells classic. Why in the world he lets himself get bogged down on these occasions is beyond me. If you're a Wells fan and Spielberg fan then it's worth seeing, if only out of curiosity. Be advised, however, that you may well leave with an empty feeling. Shame on you, Steve....you didn't give us your "A" game.