Except for a rushed climax, this is a summer treat.

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2005)

Steven Spielberg may not have made another Jaws or Jurassic Park, but this is a superior summer flick until the move into the basement slows the pace and dread that had been building up and the ending is too happy, too fast. Their is an interesting ominous tone for the first part of the film. Then, when the aliens attack, the effects are impressive. The road cracks look very convincing and I couldn't look away when the tripods started turning humans into dust. The protagonist never makes himself out to be a hero, he runs away and unlike other commentators, I liked his stand to defend his daughter. It reminded me of Brody and the shark. He was no hero either, he wanted to go get a bigger boat. The movie slows down for too long in the basement. Then, everything is wrapped up like a present in the end. I almost felt like I had just watched a two hour ad for religion. God works in mysterious ways. The ending is almost as bad as the ending of Signs. Dakota Fanning is convincing as a scared little girl. Tom Cruise does fine as well. They serve the plot as this an action movie. The end doesn't have a big catharsis, or I missed it, so the happiness seems forced. The aliens die and the people live. The End.
P.S. That isn't a very good ending, is it?