Exterminating consequences?

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2005)

Since SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, most Steven Spielberg fans have been looking for something more, something worthy to talk about for days, not just hours. That's not to say the films he has produced the past few years have been garbage, they're just not up the caliber most of us look for in a Spielberg film. In films like A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and THE TERMINAL, there's nothing that jumps out and grabs me like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN did. And, then you have the "popcorn" flicks like MINORITY REPORT and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN; both of which were fun to watch, but not as fun as previous gems like INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE.
So, no matter what type of Spielberg film you look at, he's been a little off lately. Maybe I'm being a little hard on him, but we are talking about arguably the best director of his time and one of the best directors Hollywood will ever see. In saying that, you can see how excited all of us fans were when the idea of WAR OF THE WORLDS was released, especially considering Spielberg's resume with aliens. And even with all the hype around Tom Cruise's personal life, it still comes down to the movie, and that was where all my expectations sat. Like most people I was looking at WAR OF THE WORLDS being this big spectacle of a film and although it came very close to that, it wasn't what I had hoped it would be in the end.
When Tom Cruise is in a movie, does anyone else really matter? After seeing most Tom Cruise films, you don't remember who played opposite Cruise; you just remember what Cruise did and how he did it. That's the world Cruise lives with, in and out of movies, but when you're good, you're good. And Cruise once again was good, but that's almost a given in any of his movies if you ask me. The question is, was anyone else worthy of praise, and in this one, I would have to say not really. This film wasn't really about Cruise or anyone else, as it was about the ideal of an invasion of earth. That even goes for little Dakota Fanning, who even with all her talent, had a role that could have been played by any 10-year old girl. And then there was Tim Robbins and his role, which again was played well, but most actors not as talented as Robbins can pull off the role of being a refugee on the verge of madness. But, I realize if you bring a guy like Robbins in for this small bit part, he will do it well and be memorable, so I can understand Spielberg's thinking, but his role doesn't make or break the story.
Recently we have been privileged to see some insane special effects from Steven Spielberg's films, and WAR OF THE WORLDS is no different. With tremendous sets to back up some of the CGI special effects, nothing bad can be said about the action and overall intensity oozing from this film. The opening 20 to 30 minutes is about as tense as it comes, where you are literary on the edge of your seat watching these machines terrorize our world. And, that feeling lasted for quite awhile too, right down to when you got your first glimpse of the aliens. But, like many of its predecessors, this film started to fail shortly after the appearance of the aliens on the screen.
I don't know what it is about seeing the aliens that ruins films like WAR OF THE WORLDS, but it does every time and according to Wells' story, there wasn't a true need to do that until the very end. But, I guess with his fascination of aliens, Spielberg just could not resist the temptation. As tense as this film was, to not show the alien until the last shot would have improved this film dramatically, especially since that was where this film took a fall and never recovered.
So, as highly anticipated as WAR OF THE WORLDS was, I would have hoped for something a little more. And at this point, I can't really put my fingers on exactly what that would be, but this film had the potential of being "one of kind" for a very long time. However, just because WAR OF THE WORLDS, in my mind, could have been a tad bit better overall, it doesn't change the fact it was an event to see and something I would never deter fans from seeing.