Spielberg... but scarier

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2005)

I saw this film not long after the London bombings, which is perhaps why it had the effect that it did on me, but anyway, here we go: The film begins with a classic Spielberg setup: a blue-collar American guy estranged from his two kids.It is here that you first see the quality of the script which David Koepp has written. It is also in these scenes that Cruise performs best. As ever, Spielberg handles these "small" moments well, before he gets on to the "big" stuff.
But when he does, it is just as impressive. The alien tripod rising out of the ground had people (including myself) jumping out of their seats, and the riotous crowd attacking the Ferriers' car is one of the scariest things I've seen in a while. Dakota Fanning is employed in the same role that Carrey Guffey had in Close Encounters, i.e. the innocent child who has a unique perspective on the events described in the film.
This film is different from close encounters, however, simply because it is more scary. I'm not the first to think of the burning train speeding past the crossroads as symbolic for the whole film.
So thats my review of the first half. 9/10. But once Cruise and Fanning enter the cellar with a mad Tim Robbins, it all starts to go downhill. The actual aliens themselves are really not very scary, and the sequence with the alien eye on the cable is overlong.
The most annoying thing about this film, however, is the end. After sitting through this rather different Spielberg blockbuster, you expect a rather different ending from the stock "happily ever after" one.
But thats what you get.
So, go see it, love the first bit, and try to forgive the film the second half.
(Oh, and the special effects are amazing, of course)