If you want to see a typical blockbuster flick, avoid this film

Rating: 9/10 (5 July 2005)

If you want to see a story about a man trying to survive the end of the world, this is definitely your thing. There are no heros, there is no grand battle scene,there is no scene with Will Smith dragging a dead alien across the desert.
The film stars Tom Cruise as Ray, a divorcée from NJ. He's pretty much your typical 'average bachelor' - he has a job that he hates, a place with no food to eat, and an ex wife he thinks he's pretty much the scum of the universe... Not to mention the kids who harbour feelings of resentment towards him.
Enter the martians (Although it is never mentioned they are from Mars - more on this later); here we see some incredible special effects as machines come up from the ground (apparently had been put there about a million years ago) and start destroying human life left right and centre.
What follows is pretty much Ray trying to save himself and his children from the aliens. There is no big battle scene, and Ray is definitely not the 'hero' that saves the world. I think this is what separates this movie from other alien blockbuster movies. It is shot completely from Ray's perspective, which means little information is given about the aliens, and what is going on outside. I thought the performances (especially by young Dakota Fanning) were outstanding, and Tom Cruise (although not usually a fan) did a great job in this role. There were a couple of goofs, and people have complained that there was not enough backstory. I think this was the intention of the film, to be shot from someones perspective means (unless he was military intelligence or whatnot) he really won't know jack. All he knows is that he needs to protect his kin.
My one complaint is that, although I realise that it was shot from his perspective, they should've been a little bit more detailed about the ending - and how his wife and son were still in tact, in a building that was relatively untouched when the rest of the world was pretty much in ruins.
Other than that an unexpectedly gripping and entertaining film, that was well worth my $13.50.