Sick political undertone of ending??? (+Poss Spoiler Alert)

Rating: 6/10 (16 July 2005)

I have read in a lot of reviews that WoW is somehow Spielberg's commentary on the 9/11 attacks. This is a very obvious reading - "oh my god! horrible attacks out of the blue from a foe we don't understand that brings devastation to our city!" But if indeed this is the main theme of the film, it has no clear resolution. This is partly due to the fact that the hero Tom Cruise has no relationship with the aliens other than to flee a lot, nor does he do a single thing to bring about their downfall - there's no dramatic relationship whatsoever. (Why everyone from New York is fleeing towards Beantown, by the way, I have no idea - do the aliens enjoy Cheers, why would they leave Boston in any better shape than New York?) Anyway, my main point is about the ending (which, as stated, Tom Cruise did nothing to hasten). We are told in a tacked-on, voiced over appendage, that man has earned his right to live on earth through long millenia of dying and evolving to live with our micro-organisms (why the Martians did not take their shots before coming to Earth I cannot fathom). "No man dies in vain", we are told, or words to that effect. Well Mr Spielberg what about the thousands of people in third world who die from *preventable* diseases??? Or are we meant to salute them as "taking one for the team" and acting as a mass petri dish to fend off future Martian attacks? This is a muddled film - bring back that crazy British musical version say I!