Great Directing...But Acting and Writing Stunk

Rating: 4/10 (6 July 2005)

First off, the one thing about this film that got under my skin like a bizarre South American parasite was the fact that the whole movie barely showed any resemblance to the original H.G. Wells novel. Despite the great CG and fleeting moments of social consciousness, the film lacked the most basic ingredient to a great film: a decent script.
Jesus H. Christ! This script has to be the most mindless dribble ever excepted by a major modern studio. For example, never explaining the drive for Robbie being so eager to fight the martians; much less his miraculous survival after a whole hillside is lit up like the jungle in Apocalypse Now. The script also got so caught up in delivering something modern and fresh, that Wells' original story got lost in the unimpressive drama typical Hollywood b.s. (i.e. Tom Cruise's character bringing down the martian tripod with couple of hand grenades...please!) The only real character that is carried over from Wells' novel is Tim Robbin's character of Oglivy...poorly. The character bares almost no resemblance to the character described in Wells' novel. Plus, Oglivy being killed by Ray...that was definitely a wtf? moment.
Finally, the acting wasn't really that impressive for so many A-List Hollywood names being attached to it. Honestly, Tom Cruises character of Ray could have been played by any leading male actor in Hollywood. His character seemed to serve only one purpose: to keep his family together. He delivered no prolific lines or did anything that contributed to the conclusion of the film. I looked at this in contrast to Gene Barry's character in the original WOTW film and how he was compelled to find a way to fight them--despite the odds.
I believe Steven Spielberg is genius because he manages to hold the film up from his end of things. This film is a great film if you wish to relax see a mindless alien invasion film just south of 'Independence Day' and just north of 'Invaders from Mars.' Bottom Line: If you wish to see a sci-fi/horror/fantasy film this summer, save your money to go see 'Batman Begins' or 'Land of the Dead.'