Severely Underrated

Rating: 9/10 (21 August 2014)

In 2002, Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise paired up for the very first time on Minority Report. It turned out to be a huge success and so they decided to work again, this time on an adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic The War Of The Worlds.
This being a huge Hollywood blockbuster, there are a great number of fantastically epic sequences involving the huge mechanical aliens decimating the world's population. Spielberg gives us some great visuals ranging from the aliens' first attack, a capsized ferry, a flaming train and an ingenious use of a hand grenade.
Spielberg chooses to shoot the movie from the perspective of Ray, played by Tom Cruise, as he simply tries to survive the devastating onslaught. And it is an onslaught; once the aliens attack, the movie barely lets up for the remainder of its 2 hour runtime and you will no doubt be left breathless by the time the credits role. Credit must be given to Cruise as he resists the urge to play the action hero and instead comes off as a typical man trying to understand what is happening around him. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his children, as they make serious errors in judgement time and time again. In fact, the entire subplot of Ray's relationship with his children feels wholly unnecessary and only distracts from the main plot.
Thankfully, there is not too much time spent dwelling on Ray's parental failures, and for the most part you will be amazed at the spectacle on show. It doesn't quite reach the heights of Jurassic Park or Indiana Jones, but it is noticeably darker than any blockbuster Spielberg has previously made, with a distinct lack of humour and some really grisly imagery, War Of The Worlds is nevertheless a fantastically exciting blockbuster.
Aside from Spielberg's tendency to focus on parental issues, War Of The World's is quite a departure for the director but for anyone wanting a blockbuster movie with great effects and a real sense of danger, you could do a lot worse.