Fantastic 4/5 of a movie

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2017)

This review will have spoilers for War of the Worlds AND the film Jurassic Park.
War of the Worlds is Spielberg at his meanest and also his third-darkest (with Schindler's List being first and Saving Private Ryan being second). This film is also sort of a crossroads between what defines a "popcorn" movie and what makes something deeper.
But first, to get the ending out of the way, yes, it sucks. To have Robbie suddenly appear at a pristine Boston home with his parents who, for whatever reason, are a safe haven from the madness of the alien invasion is asinine. But this film shares more similarities with Jurassic Park than any other Spielberg movie and that filmâ€”although people seemed fine with itâ€”had an asinine ending as well when the T-Rex seemingly appears out of nowhere to save Grant, Ellie and the kids. And for those people who say Ray in this movie became too much of a hero, Grant became one as well in Jurassic Park. I feel the two mirror each other closely, even though Jurassic Park (which is still one of my favorites) has just as many problems with it. And anyone who got annoyed with Dakota Fanning here, well, I'd just like to showcase Exhibit B where Lex shines a megawatt flashlight directly into a T-Rex's eyes.
There are also issues with Spielberg ignoring his own rules, so for instance near the beginning of the movie an EMP wipes out all electrical devices but people are still seen in the street with cameras and camcorders. But something similar happened in Jurassic Park when we see the downed jeeps parked in front of the fence right before the main T-Rex attack and the goat, ground, and trees are all basically at road-level. However, after the T-Rex attack and Grant, with the kids, are stuck in the car and the T-Rex pushes the car toward the segment of fence it came out of, there's suddenly a 50-foot drop. There are countless other small problems with Jurassic Park, but again people seem more favorable to that film than this.
So with those problems asideâ€”"rules" issues and the endingâ€”I still give this movie an 8 out of 10 for the sheer darkness it portrays humanity like during a time of crisis. There are heroes. There are also people who want to take advantage of others. I will never forget the shock I felt at seeing Ray's van being stolen from him at gunpoint and almost losing his daughter who was stuck inside. I was also shocked at how closely the film used a 9/11 metaphor when the Tripods start shooting civilians on the street and then the people burst into ash (and, for those who wonder why it didn't destroy clothing, maybe the beams only affect organic matterâ€”I never thought it was a problem, and seeing the clothing go flying off everyone was terrifying).
I believe this film gave Spielberg the opportunity to take popcorn movies like Close Encounters, E.T., JAWS, and Jurassic Park and filter them through the lens of a more mature filmmaker who had done Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, and the result is something pretty astounding. So yes, it's flawed, it has problems (as most Spielberg films have), but then again most movies in general have problemsâ€”I mean, think about the actual logistics of a man dressed as a bat in 100-pound body armor crouching on a skyscraper parapet in The Dark Knight and who's fighting a homicidal clown, which, incidentally, is also one of my favorite films. I think people have a hard time looking past the flaws of this film and seeing what's actually a terrifying look at people trying desperately to keep it together during a national emergency.