Spielberg does with E.T.s what he did with sharks and dinos

Rating: 4/10 (29 June 2005)

That means, menacing, scary creatures predating on people. This is a good thing since "War of the Worlds" previous incarnations terrified its audiences. However, there are some stories that, even when fictional, have to have some logic. This is one of those stories, and some parts of the plot are absolutely illogical. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.
This movie succeeds in achieving -what I imagine- exactly the effect expected from its original source, so that's a big point in its favor. The horror is real. It was a good thing to focus the story on survivors instead of generals and presidents because its seem from the audience's point of view. Those who expect a devastation worthy of a Roland Emmerich film are going to be disappointed, since most of the time the destruction is seen very subtly. There are several scenes coming from the book of "Jurassic Park" and a couple from the book of "Signs".
The things that don't work are things where logic fails just for the sake of moving the story forward. People react realistically in front of the menace 70% of the time. The final fate of the main characters is the worst syrupy studio crap in a science fiction movie since... "A.I." and almost ruined the whole movie.
However, the things that work still outweigh the things that do not work. "War of the Worlds" is one of the best science fiction movies in a while, and possibly one of the scariest,