Exciting summer blockbuster, intense action

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2005)

Spielberg is at it again shoving Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich's noses in the crap. He shows us how to truly produce an exciting summer hit. It has all the makings and then some. You have consistently great big-name actor(Tom Cruise), up and coming child actor(Dakota Fanning), intense special effects, and explosions all for a big Hollywood budget. I'm usually not a fan of blow-em-up action films, but this one turned my head. Spielberg focused on the characters, and their true persona's unfolded as the storyline progressed; this is hard to find in a July summer blockbuster.
Its opens as Cruise's kids are less than excited to be visiting their biological father for a few days. He attempts to connect with his kids, but fails miserably. Soon an eerie storm approaches their home in New York and as Cruise explores the town to understand this phenomenon he finds himself running from a giant tripod that is disintegrating people with lasers. from there he grabs his children and attempts to find his ex-wife and the rest of his family. They have a run-in with a terrible mob and down-trodden, but willing to fight Tim Robbins(who is remarkable, one of the best scenes in the movie).
The ending falls somewhat short of whats expected of Spielberg, but it's Spielberg; One of the greatest directors of any and all generations. Consistently great i might add. who are we as the general public who only watch a bunch of movies and act as though we are the film master to say Spielberg sucks. I give it an 8/10, only because the ending was lackluster. The movie is brilliant overall.