WAR of the WORLDS - A World Where E.T. is Transformed into Darth Vader

Rating: 4/10 (2 August 2016)

...........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA....and ORLANDO, FL
WARNING: May contain a few SPOILERS!
In a perfect world, any film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire, Taken, I Am Sam), would be a marvel. But, alas!...As we all know, live in a perfect world, we do not! The sad reality is this: War of the Worlds is, undoubtedly, a visual stunner...and absolutely NOTHING else.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where the young filmmaker who gave the world cinematic master-works as JAWS, Indiana Jones (along with George Lucas), ET, The Color Purple and Schindler's List, has become a film- industry magnate (co-owner of Dreamworks studio) and where the principal goal is not making great movies, but making great money! Unfortunately, we live in a world where the "Seventh Art" has been relinquished to nerdy CGI techs. That WAR abounds in visually high-impact, jaw-dropping, disturbing and Uber-unsettling scenes, which, at times, may even border on the artistic, is undeniable. But WAR is soulless cinema. It has more of the feel and look of a large- scale, passive video game, where there is no real character development, because everything is completely subordinated to the frenetic and incessant visuals.
It is possible, or perhaps likely, that most video game-lovers will adore this film. Also, if you fancy the release of adrenaline akin to that you get during most theme park rides, WAR just might turn out to be one of your favorites! But this type of activity almost always leaves an unpleasant aftertaste, as does this film.
Barely 10 minutes in, WAR is already busy depicting the arrival, or rather the emergence, in this case, of alien invaders. From the moment of their rise to the surface, the "aliens" are relentless in their campaign of extermination of the human race.
Rachel (Dakota Fanning) appears throughout the entire movie screaming, crying and whining, incessantly, to the point of becoming utterly unbearable. Tom Cruise (Rachel's father) makes a superhuman effort to save his role from disaster, andalmost succeeds! But the dialog is so forced, so contrived and its characters so superficial, so two-dimensional, it ends up being one big 'Mission Impossible' for Mr. Cruise! There is a small respite from the on-screen images of genocide, some half an hour before its abrupt and unceremonious "FIN"When survivalist, Tim Robbins' (Mystic River, The Shawshank Redemption) character, offers his home as shelter to little Rachel and her dad. But the scene does not really fit all that well into the film. It's as if Spielberg and his inner circle made the decision to put some scene, or other, there, and simply failed to find anything better.
Then, in the blink of an eye, all the aliens just up and die, and, in the most surreal, Deus Ex Machina, of ways....they ALL lived happily ever after!!!!! .The only thing missing was: "The END", plastered all over the screen.....50's style! As video games are ubiquitous in today's society, WAR, will surely have its audience, but I would really think twice before watching this sterile vision of a dark, creepy and soulless world with anyone under age 10! Be that as it may, for what it's worth
4*.......ENJOY / DISFRUTELA!?!?!?!?
Any comments, questions, observations, in English o en ESPAÑOL, are most welcome!........................................