After first 30 minutes, the movie falls flat

Rating: 6/10 (2 July 2005)

I can't begin to describe how excited I was for this movie mainly because the H.G. Wells classic is one of my favorite books; and the pairing of Spielberg and Cruise is worth salivating over. I must say I left the theater disappointed with the lack of tension and excitement an "event" film like this requires. The first 30 minutes were terrifying as the aliens begin their invasion partly due to how well Spielberg sets up the tension and payoff. The problem lies after the first act - the tension doesn't build, it either retreads the same scares over and over or decides to forgo the whole problem of aliens taking over the world to rely on mundane family problems. These problems would have been great as a breather from the action but because the action in the middle and end of the film doesn't live up to expectations, the whole movie feels longer than it should be and ultimately extremely disappointing. Spielberg really missed out on making an alien invasion classic. Dare I say "ID4" and "Signs" are better?