Great, while it lasts!

Rating: 7/10 (19 June 2006)

One of Spielbergs weaker films, yet amazing in many ways. In a nutshell this is worth seeing because of it's style, special effects, and buttock clenchingly high levels of tension and engagement.
Spielberg hiccuped on a few areas; the most common complaint arising from a major technical detail that contradicts the continuity (one phantomly powered video camera sort of brings down his empire for a minute) while others are the consequence of re-making an already clunky finish: yet passing such quick judgment on an inherently abrupt ending feels a little foolish - and I must defend that there is still plenty on offer here, almost enough to make up for it, almost.
There was also a lot less war in the film than I had anticipated (a lot more running and hiding, and a little girl screaming). But if we can grudgingly accept Spielberg's chosen perspective of the war - through the eyes of our pedestrian Cruize and his pair of wriggling children, we can accept his vision for this film. Once we're over that hurdle we can realize that his skills are still razor sharp. Indeed Spielberg delivers everything we expected and more on an epic scale and it is the story, not the presentation that flounders. This film feels fresh and bold, satisfying our hunger for new levels of realism and tension.
A panoramic montage of the human race with a reading of part of Well's novel by Morgan Freeman is both obligatory and begrudgingly necessary as an opening sequence, but the true butterflies finally take flight only once the next sequences create a working class situation, in a sagging New Jersey dockland. Not too long and a storm starts a-brewin' and we, nervously begin to realize what Spielberg is about to do with this very real place and (notably) post 9/11 people. For me there was uneasiness about of what I was about to see - Spielberg has been known to disturb with the brutality of realism and the way he was playing it, I got the feeling that this was going to be one of those times. You just don't exactly know how it's all going to happen, and you feel very much on the street, as the first tripods emerge.
When he finally releases the tension, it hits hard and fast. What happens is quite incredible and disturbing as our audience's gasps tended to agree (not conventionally gruesome, just unusual and a bit frightening). The ball was rolling, and doesn't stop until said ending. Yes, this is a classic Spielbergian study in tension building and the release of terror, with no mistaking the quality of the effects or intensity of the action. Blammo!
Cruize's necessarily fast development into a more dedicated dad is alright - but it's his childish, selfish dysfunction and his struggle to care about his responsibilities as a week-end father that really holds the most interest and humour for us - indeed most of the actors shine pre-invasion.
Of style? It's a feast for the eyes and imagination. For much of the film, the "money shots" of the alien machines are masterfully obscured by dust, debris or clouds - we have to look hard to make out their shapes and dimensions. I read somewhere that Spielberg's intention was to give you a similar perception of events to what we had on Omaha beach; hand-held at eye level, the camera desperately glancing back as we run for cover. The effect is that we catch incidental (yet deliberate) glimpses of people being incinerated, the alien machines as they emerge, and the shock and intensity of their assault. Notably, the action is rarely presented to us outside of these subjective angles and the result is a terrifyingly immersive experience, giving the director a connection to us that allows him to shock and jolt us at his leisure. We get to witness Spielberg's ever developing genius as he plunges us into greater depths of realism.
I saw this in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, and my wife will tell you it was the location of the quickest mid-movie toilet break ever.
My verdict: Not the strongest of stories, running out of steam too early, yet presented with undeniable skill. 7/10