Disappointing Mr. Spielberg.

Rating: 3/10 (4 July 2005)

I am an avid movie-goer but have been more disappointed by movies in these last two years than I have been for my ten odd 'movie-going' years before that. I have come to realise that movies dependent on heavy advertising and promotion are so for a reason: they need it to sell tickets. Armed with this knowledge I have managed to avoid the torture and anguish of sitting through much off the garbage-disguised-as-movies spewed out by Hollywood of late. Unfortunately, I did not think that the above rule of advertising applied to Steven Spielberg movies...I was wrong!! The following adjectives come to mind when I think of this movie: void, anti-climactic, vacant. It occurred to me as I left the theatre that Spielberg settles for nothing less than 'the best': protagonist, Tom Cruise, one of the best child actresses in Hollywood, Dakota Fanning, the greatest narrator of all time, Morgan Freeman and not least of all cutting-edge special effects. No complaints, but could there be a reason for this? Is it possible that, unlike some of the other great directors of Hollywood, Spielberg has no confidence in his abilities; so much so in fact that he needs 'the best' to distract us from what a movie is all about, the plot. The movie started out great...after the first five minutes I was excited for what was to come but then nothing did! As time went on I began to feel anxious as nothing (other than explosions and mass destruction) had happened and the end had to be near. I thought to myself "another one (director) bites the dust". The abruptness with which the movie ended seemed to me evidence of the fact that the film crew themselves were embarrassed by their own work and simply wanted, no, needed, this multi-million-dollar ordeal to end. The movie lacked any substance and quite frankly I wish Spielberg would fail miserably with it so that he might put a little more thought into his next project. Unfortunately I am certain that the propaganda alone will ensure that it is a success at the box office.