Adrenaline Roller-coaster

Rating: 6/10 (2 July 2005)

Why Spielberg took this project to do a remake of the excellent original 50s version is beyond me. So we get a loud Dolby THX soundtrack and state-of-the-art visual effects, but the action is basically the same. The alien invaders are only a cinematic diversion in order to see this family cope with primal fear, which we can genuinely feel. Okay, we focus more on Cruise and his absent parenting skills as he begins to re-bond with his children who are living with his divorced wife. Dakota Fanning steals the show. Again credit Cruise for willing to give up the spotlight for the rising starlette.
The ending leaves you wondering, was it THAT easy??? And the old, so predictable Hollywood ending with Morgan Freeman's banal narrative explanation and "moral to the story".
The impact of this story is so much more stronger from the 50s version with its period special effects and far more frightening to audiences in the 50s than a green-screened lets-blow-the-eardrums and give'm as much sensory overload for their ten bucks. Please!!