On Cruise control as Mars attacks

Rating: 7/10 (28 June 2005)

Okay, so the headline is sort of deceiving, since in Steven Spielberg's newest effort, a remake of the 1953 classic, "The War of the Worlds," the invaders are not necessarily Martians. In fact, we don't know where the aliens are *from*, we just know they're *here*. And once here, they certainly do a number on the planet, rising from deep underground (after a series of lightening strikes) and wreaking havoc all over the world. In the midst of this catastrophe, enter Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise), a crane operator on the Brooklyn shipyards, divorced and irresponsible, who just happens to have his unenthusiastic kids, Robbie (Justin Chatwin, yes, Tom Cruise plays the father of a teenager!) and Rachel (Dakota Fanning, "Man On Fire," "Hide & Seek"). The kids don't want to be there, and when the earth comes under attack from huge, three-legged ships (think of those walkers on "Return of the Jedi" with whiplike tentacles), supposedly buried for a million years, they're kind of stuck with one another. Weak and indecisive, Ray clashes with his son, who is itching for action and wants to fight the aliens tooth and nail. Rachel, on the other hand, is claustrophobic and often acts much older than her age. When Robbie disappears while viewing a military attack on the creatures, Ray must fend for his daughter, not only against extra-terrestrial visitors, but also wild crowds of maddened humanity and a psycho ambulance driver (hiding in an abandoned farmhouse), Ogilvy (Tim Robbins, "Shawshank Redemption," "Mystic River"). Ray and his charges are put through the wringer by Spielberg  no stranger to working with aliens ("Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T."). Like a James Bond film, they are forced to escape from almost impossible (and certainly improbable) situations time and time again. Those fans of the original film  starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson  will notice immediately that this work is more faithful to the H.G. Wells novel (as well as the subsequent Orson Wells Mercury Theatre 1938 radio presentation). Instead of those cool, smooth, triangular ships flying about, these intruders walk on three legs, chasing and gathering up hapless humans for food and other needs. Never fear, however, the best scene in the 1953 version  Barry and Robinson trying to avoid the creepy, all-seeing alien eye at the farmhouse  is left intact here. Overall, Spielberg's work ranks right up there with some of his best recent action works, such as "Jurassic Park" and "Minority Report." The story is compelling (H.G. Wells buttressed by Josh Friedman and David Koepp), and the acting, especially Cruise and Robbins. As far as the CGI work, it's also top-notch. Sure, there are a few goofy scenes, but the special effects grab you almost immediately, fling you along for a few hours and throw you back in your seat  like a rag doll. It's a stunning, almost overwhelming sensory experience  for the eyes and the ears. Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (who worked with Spielberg on "Schindler's List," "Amistad," "Saving Private Ryan," Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal) is a big reason for this, as well as FX work by Robert L. Anderson (the "Naked Gun" films) and Roy Augenstein ("Haunted Mansion," "Cellular," "Dragonfly"). What is nice about the picture is, while we see the aliens many times, Kaminski's camera does not dwell on them, preferring instead to capture the terrified faces of Ray, his family and those horrified masses retreating from the invading hordes. Scenes of stunned refugees crossing bridges ahead of the monsters are almost like films of terrified citizens fleeing the Red Army or Nazis in World War II. That's not to say the movie is perfect, by any means. I did not care too much for the pat ending (over and above what H.G. Wells had written at the beginning of the last century), Chatwin's poor acting or one particular scene. While hiding from the monsters in the basement of his ex-wife's home, Ray discovers that a huge jumbo jet (apparently blown out of the sky by the creatures) has fallen right there on the block. Strewn with wreckage and debris (but no bodies for some reason), the aircraft has conveniently avoided the family's minivan parked in the driveway  leaving nothing so much as a scratch or dent  plus there's a clear path for them to drive away on. It's silly, but does little to detract for the whole picture, which is certainly worth seeing.