The So-So movie of the summer! *spoilers*

Rating: 7/10 (1 July 2005)

Despite all the makings of a great film here (beautiful effects, a big name actor & director, john williams on the score, etc), this film embodies mediocrity.
The acting in this film is painful to watch. The writers best attempts to make us feel something for these characters are futile, and none of them really feel fully developed, even at the end of the film. Cruise alters his typical role just slightly here but doesn't try anything dramatically different. The children are either a: screaming too frequently (flanning) or b: trying to embody every teen angst stereotype simultaneously (chatwin). But on to my favorite part, the plot holes.
As noted in other reviews, the movie begins with a tripod landing somewhere in Queens, NY, following an electromagnetic pulse. Despite this fact, this scene is photographed and tape recorded by pedestrians. In every scene involving a car, conveniently a path exists for it to drive through (you would think Cruise would have to plow through dead vehicles or debris, but no). This especially gets on my nerves during the scene at his wifes house, where there is a convenient route straight through the wreckage. Speaking of which, how the hell does a car survive when a 747 hits the house it is parked at?
The scene where Flanning and Cruise hide from the eye is Spielburg reusing his shots from the velocirapter/kitchen scene in Jurassic Park. In fact, I found myself repeatedly comparing this to Jurassic Park: mediocre everything, cutting edge effects. Somehow it was cooler when I was younger, though.
My final, biggest gripe with the film is this: If the aliens been plotting the invasion of earth for millions of years, HOW DID THEY FAIL TO REALIZE THAT PARTS OF THE PLANET HAVE FRIGID WEATHER? Couldn't THEY HAVE MAYBE FOUND A WAY, WITH ALL THEIR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY, TO KEEP FROM FREEZING TO DEATH? They manage to find ways to shield themselves against every weapon known to man, but get the temperature to freezing or below, and its game over.
This is not a bad a film by any means, but its certainly not the blockbuster some of the reviews here are portraying it as.
Sigh.