Fantastic spectacle - shame about the dumb scenes though!

Rating: 8/10 (3 July 2005)

On the positive side this is one hell of a spectacle. The opening 20 minutes build the story around the fractured family headed by a less than dutiful father Tom Cruise. Spielberg is a past master with building personality into his movies but however hard he tries I just don't think he builds the human characters enough to make them credible or believable.
The first views of the doom laden sky point to something amiss when bizarre lightning storms consume the planet. From the first signs of potential trouble the film then moves up a gear to continue at a frantic pace as Cruise and his two kids try to keep one step ahead of the alien invaders.
It is a real shame that such a masterful filmmaker as Spielberg allows this spectacular film to fall down on a number of stupid 'gaffs' or unbelievable sections where the dialogue is so daft or stilted that it made me cringe.
The references to terrorism and the picture boards of the faces of the missing are misplaced as is the same old tired notion of the dysfunctional family eventually pulling together.
Overall though I would recommend you see WOTW although be warned that it may well leave you feeling a little hollow