Spielbergs Cruise missile hits target prematurely

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2005)

By now everybody knows the HG Wells story, and everybody knows about Orson Welles's radio play that shocked a nation. And even the first movie has become a textbook example of 'how-to-make-a-sci-fi-B-movie'.
So I didn't quite understand what drew Spielberg to this project. It's like Van Sant remaking (or rethinking or reinventing, or whatever they want to call it) Hitchcock's "Psycho" or Jackson doing "King Kong" all over again. But I have to say that I'm surprised what the summer blockbuster 'meister' has done with this one.
I absolutely loved the first Spielberg/Cruise team-up (Minority Report) so it's safe to say I had high expectations for their next project. And most of those expectations have been met. Spielberg has made another great movie. The only flaws this film has have to do with Koepp's screenplay reworking.
Strangely enough he stays quite true to the original. Now some would say that's a good thing, but you have to understand that some elements from the old movie simply don't have that much impact anymore in this century. And that's where the film's main problem lies. Spielberg tries his best to make everything feel real. It seems getting older has made him more cynical, and this film has several scenes that are gut-wrenching simply because you don't expect them in a 'popcorn' movie. But however gritty and painful he seems to want to make it, Koepp's B movie script prevents credibility in any way, drawing more attention to the ridiculousness of the whole thing. And by the time we're introduced to Tim Robbin's character in the last half hour, the movie seems to have run out of steam, dabbling along to a sudden and anticlimactic ending. Probably because Spielberg had run out of money turning the first hour and a half in such a roller-coaster ride.
But in a time where all of Hollywood seems to suffer from a permanent writer's block, this is a relief. Despite its faults it's a more than decent 'reworking' of a well known story. The visuals are superb, William's score is almost 'invisible' to the ear (knowing that he's used to over-scoring every single frame you see) and the Cruise/Fanning team-up works beautifully, both of them proving once again why they're hot and wanted in LaLa land. It may not be another "Minority Report" hit, but it's definitely a close second. 8/10
stephen