Not too bad...

Rating: 6/10 (9 August 2005)

I suppose this is the most eagerly awaited blockbuster of the summer? Well, for me it was an overall success; not in the same league of excellence as Close Encounters or Jaws, but better than the Lost World and Hook! The Spielberg hallmarks are there; the gradual build up of tension through little signs, barely noticeable at first, that something is up (or down); the ordinary Joe going about his humdrum life before being interrupted by something big; the cutesy kid.
The plot direction is pretty faithful to the book, given that it's been updated from the 19th Century to present day, and moved from Woking to New Jersey! The invasion, the Martians, the 'war', the eventual demise of the aliens all follow the book. Interestingly, the main protagonist in the book is a philosopher; in the film a dockworker! How times change; the idea that a hero in such a film could be a philosopher would be too outrageous to contemplate. I'm beginning to find Tom Cruise a problem in such roles, just because it's Tom Cruise. He's certainly a good enough actor and plays his part well, but he's now a prisoner of his massive persona, and I find it difficult to get away from that to just accept him as Ray Ferrier. This is my problem really, but if it affects how we all see him it becomes his problem.
Obviously subsidiary characters are conflated or eliminated in the film; the Tim Robbins character is most like the curate in the book; at least, that character had to be killed by the protagonist. Wells seems to use this character to attack religion, or, at least, religious types. No such analysis required in the film; it's just a romping adventure yarn and as such is a little one dimensional, unfortunately. The pace, special effects, excitement, tension and drama cannot be faulted, however, and it's a thoroughly entertaining ride.
The theme of a cataclysmic event is popular at the moment, and reflects the post 9/11, 7/7 zeitgeist (ooo, too many stupid words there). We all seem to be living with the feeling that anything could happen today, a little like during wartime, so this movie is released at the right time to capture this unease. Mankind are now perceived to be losing control of our destiny; we're under attack from within (terrorist attacks) and without (climate change), and this story shows us how things could be if we were to lose control completely.