Great Action/ Thriller Movie

Rating: 9/10 (3 July 2005)

GREAT MOVIE! WotW's is one of the best, if not the best movie of the summer. It starts fast and never lets up. Within the first 15 mins the aliens are up and running- blowing way anyone and anything that gets in their path. Cruise's character Ray, a divorced dad of two, gets thrown into a life and death quest to keep his children AND himself alive. Cruise does a great job showing, even before the action starts, that Ray loves his children. It's just he seem unable- or that willing to connect with his kids. Dakota Fanning is fantastic as the little girl Rachel. Her performance in many ways makes the show and steals it from Cruise. Wisely Spielberg doesn't offer any explanation about the aliens. We don't know who they are or where they came from. That adds to the intense feeling of fear and loss of control that makes you sit on the edge of your seat. The few action sequences really deliver. My favorites show the U.S. armed forces desperate but futile attempts to strike back at the invaders. Also I felt the movie does a good job of showing people at their best and their worst in this end of the world scenario. My only complaints are the ending- a little too neat, the character of the son Robbie (Justin Chatwin,) who seems to have little purpose to the story and I wish it had been a little longer. All in all one great summer movie.