War of the Worlds- Film Review

Rating: 7/10 (1 August 2005)

Steven Speildbergs's War of the Worlds has recently come into theatres attracting people of all ages, appealing to Sci-fi fanatics, action fans, and Tom Cruise lovers. Set in a New Jersey town, Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) a dockworker divorce is left with his two children, Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and little Rachel (Dakota Fanning), while his pregnant ex-wife visits her parents in Boston with her new husband. Strange lightening storms mark the beginning of the alien invasion. From underground the aliens emerge wielding death lasers that vaporize frantic people and destroy buildings, in addition to cutting off all the electricity in the area. Ray's goal is to get his kids back to their mother in Boston, weaving through the mass hysteria and hiding from the tripod alien weapons.
Spielberg saturates the film with up close chaos, people running and screaming in complete confusion. No doubt terms like Holocaust and genocide come to mind during the alien attacks and crowds of people trying to escape. Also quite eye catching is the great special effects and computer animation that were all crafted well. The explosions, the alien machines, and the aliens themselves seemed as visually satisfying as a realistic nightmare.
The acting by Tom Cruise is perfect, his portrayal of deadbeat dad dockworker, who knows practically nothing about his kids' lives seems strange only for the first few moments. Thankfully, Cruise's high profile celebrity status doesn't steal any attention away from the story itself. The adorable Dakota Flanning is disturbingly reminiscent of Drew Barrymore in E. T., but screams constantly and acts older. Justin Chatwin does a superb job at playing a semi unruly teenager who ventures into manhood after seeing the terror the aliens create.
Overall, War of the Worlds was a very entertaining movie that H.G. Wells would have approved of.