The lad is back on form

Rating: 10/10 (12 October 2005)

War of the Worlds was a much anticipated film for me as Spielberg had gone off his creative polar axis with Terminal and the light comedy Catch Me If You Can. Still,a genius like Spielberg cannot be expected to roll off brilliant films one by one and his stature does allow for the occasional thuds. However,all I can say is after seeing his latest,the lad is back on form. War of the Worlds is exceptional because Tom Cruise is not the go it alone man on the mission to rescue the world,but on a mission to re-recognise his family,to realise his duty as a parent and earn the respect he lost from his children. The approaching menace of the storm,the fearsome tripods (and their roar) and the destruction they cause is awesome. The film is at times harrowing:the crashed Jumbo,the floating bodies on the river,the train on fire and the sinking of the ferry. What was more disturbing,the lengths people would go to get a car (all vehicles were disabled post invasion) and the unhealthy interest the Tim Robbins' character had little Dakota Fanning. The scene in the basement with Cruise,Robbin and Fanning was a welcome lull from the chaos outside,but the tension didn't ease,especially with the Rififfi style scene as an alien scout was searching for someone inside. My only gripes with the film was the ending came a bit too quick in terms of narration and sadly,Mr Spielberg had to introduce ET's more nastier cousins. I think the film would have worked a lot better if the aliens had kept their anonymity (as in the driver in Duel) and the menace was displayed in the malevolent machines. Perhaps the film was made too quickly. Nonetheless,a brilliant film with Tom Cruise as his everyman best,Tim Robbins displayed an uglier character we don't normally associate him with and someone should have word with Dakota Fanning for stealing scenes. It is hard to imagine that the original story was actually set in Woking in Surrey,England. Now what have the people of Woking done to upset the Martians...? Mark S Bradhsaw