Does the Spielberg/Cruise combo get it right after the muddled and half-decent "Minority Report"?

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2005)

Having neither read the novel upon which it is based nor having viewed the 1953 cinematic outing or heard the classic Orson Welles radio play I pretty much walked into "The War of The Worlds" only knowing a handful of things:

It's directed by the bearded genius Steven Spielberg. - It stars the world's number one Scientology spokesperson Tom Cruise. - His co-star happens to be the terrific little actress Dakota Fanning who happens to always get cast in the same type of role - the annoying troubled child. - It has plenty of explosions courtesy of our neighbors - the evil aliens hell bent on destroying all of mankind. - Mr. Cruise repeats his couch stomping act when faced by the movies main antagonist.

Okay fine, one of the above isn't true. I'll let you find out for yourself after viewing it on the big screen. You know you're going to. The two names the producers are using to promote the movie (H.G. Wells? Who dat?) are enough to ensure enormous numbers of enormous bottoms in cinema seats.
As mentioned earlier I have no detailed knowledge of the story so I can't tell you how accurate this interpretation is. In this modern update Tom Cruise stars as Ray Ferrier a divorcée asked to take care of his two children Rachel Ferrier (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie Ferrier (Justin Chatwin). The first act does a terrific job of flashing the character relationships no matter how cliché they are. If you haven't already guessed from viewing the trailers (or the multiple movies with similar character types) Ray isn't the "#1 Dad". In fact he's a pretty harsh especially towards his son and doesn't even know how to start dealing with his daughter. I'll let your imagination (and superb memory of movies with similar characters) help you figure out how his story pans out.
Soon after the invasion begins and we're treated to some of the best scenes of destruction Hollywood has put on the screen. The craft and alien designs are excellent and how I wish they had more detailed action pieces. However, since most of the characters do noting more than run away from the mechanical monsters the action starts to tire out real quick. This is where screenwriters David Koepp and Josh Friedman try to get creative.
I said try.
The real downer of the whole plot comes as soon as we're introduced to everyone's favorite political mouthpiece Tim Robbins as Ogilvy, a stranger who offers Ray and family shelter in his underground bunker. Again I'm not sure if his character was in the books but he most definitely is not a welcome addition to the proceedings. By this point of the movie Ray's motivations for getting his kids to their mother become crystal clear to us therefore the whole interaction between the two and the outcome of it feels pointless and repetitious.
With nowhere else to go the movie finds a convenient end. I'm guessing they kept the books original ending but in my humble opinion if they were going update it they should have also crafted a much more effective and smart ending. The whole thing just looked far to silly especially when the antagonists, who've planned this invasion for centuries, are far superior species than humans.
Like many I had high hopes for the Spielberg/Cruise pairing after the muddled, half decent "Minority Report" but sadly they don't get it 100% right this time either.