Will Spielberg ever truly reach the dark side?

Rating: 6/10 (1 July 2005)

There is a simple reason why Steven Spielberg is so popular among many. He has an ability to place you in the moment that few other contemporary directors have. Even his worst films have their redeeming qualities - qualities that generally stay with you, and make those films worth a glance. He is undeniably sentimental and manipulative, but he is one of the best - if not THE best - at being so. His best films have made drama genuinely moving, rather than nauseating, and most of the suspenseful set pieces he has created have been inspired and stood the test of time, even if they have (unfortunately) driven on endless imitators.
With War Of The Worlds, Spielberg has attempted a bleak vision of the future for the third time. In his previous two attempts - AI and Minority Report - he came agonisingly close to the dark side (in my view, he has never come closer than Schindler's List, and even then he stumbled a tiny bit), but overly sentimental and not-entirely-logical endings severely damaged both efforts. However, they were still enough positives about Minority Report to earn it more widespread critical acclaim and a strong recommendation from me (which still stands today).
War Of The Worlds looked promising. The central crew of all his films from Schindler's List onwards was still in place. Realising just how successful his last collaboration with Tom Cruise was, he recalled him to play the lead role. Respected actors such as Miranda Otto (recently made more famous thanks to The Lord Of The Rings trilogy), Tim Robbins and gifted child actor Dakota Fanning were also cast.
A modern-day remake of the classic H.G. Wells story, War Of The Worlds' protagonist is dock worker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise). His family life is in pieces - neither his son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) nor daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) fully appreciate him. So when his ex-wife Mary Ann (Miranda Otto) leaves the kids around for a weekend visit, it looks like another case of awkward bonding. Then a bizarre storm starts brewing...
And at last, we think, the dark side will not elude Spielberg. The aliens are coming, and their goal is, in one word, extermination. And so we watch as the human race fights to survive against the aliens in the tripods.
All of the action scenes hold your attention, and some are truly breathtaking. One of these is a suspense scene that's reminiscent of the spy-der search from Minority Report. I might even argue that it tops that particular scene. There's holocaust-style imagery that leaves an incredible impact. Once again, Spielberg manages to draw a reasonable performance from Tom Cruise (although he was acting a little too smarmy for my liking in the early stages of the film). And, as always, Spielberg shows his indefatigable gift for getting the most from child actors. Dakota Fanning proves to be the perfect choice for Spielberg's latest wide-eyed protagonist. Refreshingly, her character is not such a cheap ploy for sympathy.
But hang on...didn't I mention earlier on that Spielberg doesn't seem to know how to end these kind of films? I won't spoil the ending for you, but I can say that while it's not as damaging as AI's ending was, it is still poorly executed. The ending's not the only cop-out; I seem to recall an action scene that was all-too-conveniently resolved. I can also recall a couple of references to ET. Nice touches though they are, we're not really looking for "nice" in War Of The Worlds, are we? And somehow, I think we could have done without Morgan Freeman's voice-overs, Steve.
Worst of all, when we look at the picture as a whole, we suddenly see that War Of The Worlds doesn't really add up to much. It's brilliantly executed, to be sure, but the best science fiction has always dealt more with ideas as well as action. For the sake of crafting a modern blockbuster, Spielberg tends to have set almost all meaning aside at the expense of action scenes and only marginally successful character bonding moments. (Then again, maybe this is more the fault of the screenwriters...) When you see what Spielberg is capable of as a director you find yourself expecting more than what he delivers here.
In a nutshell, War Of The Worlds is another missed opportunity in the Spielberg catalogue. It's undoubtedly worth watching, and it fits the bill as a summer movie, but like Minority Report before it, its lack of focus has prevented it from realising its true potential.
Rating: 6.5/10