The 1954 version just looks better every single day...

Rating: 1/10 (21 February 2006)

Not even Mr Blockbuster Spielberg could save this film from being the rambling, incoherent mess that it turned out to be. Yes, it has nice special effects, but that could not compensate for the fact that it is rehashing a fifty year old plot and not doing much to even make it better. As everyone already knows the story of the alien invasion, Spielberg tries to add a new spin to it by focusing on one families struggle to reunite as this alien attack effects them. Spielberg plays up to every possible cliché in this film that at stages I actually thought this film was meant to be a parody on the original movie. Does the estranged father repair his relationship with his children by the end of the film? In classic Spielberg fashion, yes. Does Dakota Fanning act as nothing but a Drew Barrymore substitute in a film sorely lacking E.T.'s charm? Check yes to that as well. Isn't it time Spielberg stopped making popcorn films and made something worthwhile? Yes indeed. The worst aspect is that the film has a very artificial look to it. All the explosions seem fake and the actors never seem to be giving it their full effort. Spielberg sure bombed out with this one.