Convincing carnage...

Rating: 10/10 (19 June 2013)

Utterly believable fx buttress plausible performances all around and make Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS one of the truly great invasion epics. Like GODZILLA (the 1998 version), WAR OF THE WORLDS depends greatly on its special effects- and, also like GODZILLA, the fx are very much up to the task. I've bemoaned the fact the most fx-heavy movies of the past several decades have left a great deal to be desired, but, when the DRAMA is this well integrated, even state-of-the-art fx are laudable and only ENHANCE the performances. (JAWS is still one of the scariest movies of all time, but the fx therein are all Practical Magic- and all the more remarkable because of it. Unfortunately, one need only sit through any one of the subsequent sharks-on-the-loose clunkers to see that cgi sharks are by no means as frightening as the faux "real thing.") With PACIFIC RIM looming on the horizon, it looks like we'll be treated to yet more convincing carnage. Keep 'em comin', I say.