Scores on a few fronts, just don't expect much

Rating: 6/10 (22 September 2013)

Having seen this movie again on the small screen, I would lift my rating from a 5/10 to a 6/10. Maybe it's because I approached it with low expectations the second time around! I have to admit it is successful in creating and maintaining suspense and in providing a visual spectacle, which is the whole point of disaster movies. Like other reviewers I find the characters' behaviour and dialogue irritating particularly in the first part of the movie. Fortunately as events unfold there is less for them to say or do, as they are simply trying to escape the alien attack plus survive their mostly negative interactions with their fellow man. Unlike other reviewers I'm not troubled by the rationale of the alien invasion, as in the protagonists' position you would be simply reacting without knowing what was happening or why, and this is not hard for the viewer to accept. I'm a bit puzzled by the geography of the action,as at some points people seem to be fleeing towards the enemy not away. Also why is the army trucking in foot soldiers when this does not seem appropriate given the nature of the enemy? But people in the movie seem to specialize in dumb behaviour, so join them, just turn your brain off and watch.