Pretty good, actually

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2005)

I think that a lot of people have been unfairly lambasting this movie over silly details. I won't debunk all the dumb criticisms, but it's pretty silly to quibble over what an electromagnetic pulse would, or would not, wipe out in terms of home electronics, automobile starters, etc., or how consistent or uniform the effects would be. (If you're inclined to criticize on that basis, a much bigger plot hole is the fact that alien war machines have been buried under the surface of the earth for an unknown but very long period. Why did the aliens bother waiting in the first place?)
Another silly criticism -- that the movie is derivative. Of course it is, but getting all offended because it has similarities to Signs or Independence Day is just plain dumb, since those latter movies were rip-offs of still earlier movies, most notably, the 1953 version of War of the Worlds. Incidentally, if you've seen the 1953 version, the current version pays homage in several important scenes, including (the much criticized) basement scene.
Whatever. The new movie is quite strong, disturbing in spots, evocative of 911, and thematically complex. People who don't hate Tom Cruise will probably enjoy his performance, which was quite strong overall. If you have children of your own, you'll probably get more out of the movie than if you don't. As others have stated, the end of the movie wasn't executed as well as it could have been -- but keep in mind that the end was written to coincide with the original book. Anybody who's looking for an unhappy, nihilistic ending should instead rent a Romero zombie flick on DVD -- an unhappy ending simply isn't keeping with the source material, however invested you may be in maintaining an analogy to the current war on terrorism.
Note to Steven Spielberg: It ought to be pretty easy to fix the ending for the DVD version, just by recutting, if you're so inclined. Here's my suggestion (SPOILER FOLLOWS):
Stick closer to ending in 1953 version. Send Cruise and daughter directly into tunnel/shelter in Boston area, with renewed threat from tripod, and without telegraphing resolution. Show 30 seconds of despairing Cruise (lifted from basement), possibly with voice-over from a shortwave radio suggesting all is lost. Then have horrendous crashing noise coming from outside -- have Cruise tentatively emerge from tunnel, to discover crashed tripod (not shot down by Army), and dying alien. Then end movie without final scene of family reconciliation. Cleaner and better, IMHO anyway.