Bore of the Worlds

Rating: 1/10 (29 September 2007)

"War of the Worlds" is an adaptation of the H.G. Wells' science fiction novel of the same name. Pairing director Steven Spielberg with material from a well-known science fiction author seems like a perfect match, but this film disappointingly falls flat. The film's premise is simple: aliens invade Earth to the terror of all. Its sets and effects are well-developed and John Williams' score is certainly notable, but these factors can't help this film much.
I never found myself becoming attached to the characters, a rarity in a Spielberg film. The performances in the film aren't especially bad, particularly that of Tim Robbins, but the characters themselves simply aren't memorable.
No doubt this film was supposed to gain depth from the consideration of society in chaos and the strain of the alien invasion on individuals and families, but I found these developments largely trite and uninteresting. Any developments that are interesting are eclipsed by the film's lingering focus on dull "run terrified and hide from the aliens" scenes. The aliens themselves were none too inspiring despite being created with the best of CGI. This film bows out with an abrupt ending that tries to be clever but to me seemed contrived and an example of "deus ex machina" gone awry.