Oh, brother . . .

Rating: 1/10 (6 July 2005)

Credit where credit is due. Cinematographer Jaunsz Kaminski, Industrial Light and Magic and, uh . . . that's it.
WOTW is stunning, as in a blow to the head that leaves you barely conscious and praying for a mercifully brief end. To no avail.
Aside from Kaminski and ILM, nobody does anything. Spielberg doesn't direct. John Williams doesn't score. Cruise and Fanning don't act. The "plot" plods. The "suspense" is non-existent (the "Martians" lose, Earth wins).
This emperor wears no clothes. One silently applauds one or two camera moves for their technical virtuosity, then begs for something -- anything -- to happen -- to grab and hold interest.
Nothing does. The 1953 George Pal version, for all its technical innocence, packs far more of a wallop than this treacle.
A pointless, unnecessary exercise in P.T. Barnum hucksterism. "See the Egress!" Fifteen minutes in, I couldn't wait.
I never thought I'd see a BORING Spielberg film (I even loved "A.I."), but this is it.
The cinematic equivalent of Broadway's "Cats," without Andrew Lloyd Webber's dreadful music.
It'll be a cold day in you-know-where before I shell out $ for another Steven Spielberg or Tom Cruise film.
On the other hand, the trailer for Peter Jackson's "King Kong" rocked!