Disappointing sci-fi dross - 53%

Rating: 5/10 (6 April 2006)

I like to think that most film audiences receive some sort of idea about whether they're likely to enjoy a film or not. In this regard, it is perhaps understandable that although I got the DVD for Christmas, I only felt the urge to watch this updated version of H.G. Wells' classic yesterday. Alien invasion films have been around for donkeys of years but "War Of The Worlds" has that extra something, a deep-rooted sense of apocalyptic menace and hopelessness in the face of a superior enemy. I'm still traumatised by Jeff Wayne's musical version, which my Dad played for me as a kid and which may also play part of my reluctance to watch this film. But once you're used to the prevailing sense of doom, this is little more than a special effects-laden science-fiction horror but one with all the usual Spielberg sugar.
Tom Cruise plays Ray, a New York dock worker with an estranged wife (Miranda Otto) and two kids who don't really get on with him (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin). After his wife drops the kids off before heading off to Boston, a strange storm captures everyone's attention. Before long, huge alien Tripods emerge from the ground and begin laying waste to everything and everyone, forcing Ray and the kids to flee in terror. As they join the large number of refugees, Ray struggles to keep his family together as the aliens continue their extermination of mankind.
I always thought Spielberg was an odd choice for director for something like this. The material is too dark for him as this is as far from "ET" as you can get. Personally, I would have liked to see David Cronenberg have a go but there you are. As it is, "War Of The Worlds" is little more than the standard familial drama but set at the end of the world. And there is no doubt that the effects are spectacular as America is (yet again) witness to destruction on a massive scale. Imagine "Twister" mixed with "Independence Day" and you're not far off. But after the initial burst of the aliens arriving, the film sags badly as they rest in the basement of trigger-happy Tim Robbins and doesn't really pick up again until the final reel. As far as acting goes, nobody really has a great deal to do but the cast scream and feign fear well enough.
It's a shame that despite the high production values and effort, there isn't really a great deal to enjoy. We've all seen endless films where mass-scale destruction is the order of the day, from "Godzilla" to "Independence Day" so watching New York getting torn up once more, there is a feeling of déjà vu. Something else that seems critically damaged was the script as there are massive gaps in logic and credibility, such as Ray finding the only car in the state that not only worked but also had the keys in the ignition and the horribly predictable ending which is so ridiculous that I immediately took a mark away on the score for that alone! "War Of The Worlds" deserved to be much better than it actually is, although there are plenty of scares and the novel's famous sense of dread is thankfully intact. But the pacing and script needed much more work and the sheer amount of effects means you find yourself wondering how much of it is simply computer graphics and how much of it is "real". It's more of a technical showpiece than a movie classic and that's a real shame, given the strength of the story.