War of the Worlds   

Ray Ferrier: Tom Cruise

Rachel: Dakota Fanning

Robbie: Justin Chatwin

Harlan Ogilvy: Tim Robbins

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Screenplay by Josh Friedman 

and David Koepp

Based on the novel by H.G. Wells

How many free passes does Steven Spielberg get?  He is often mentioned as one of the greatest directors of all-time, but since 1993 (the year of Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park) he’s only managed two better-than-average movies in nine tries.  That’s twelve years of mediocrity from this acclaimed director.  And he’s getting worse.  After last year’s dreadful The Terminal, you would think that a pairing of Tom Cruise and aliens would be just what the doctor ordered.  Think again. 

After a promising beginning featuring the initial invasion full of impressive effects, the film never goes anywhere.  It’s, basically, they’re here, they attack, and they die, all followed up with a brief happy ending.  Before you know it, the credits are rolling and you’re left wondering just what it was exactly you sat through. 

Tom Cruise plays Ray Ferrier, a divorced father of two who is not nearly as successful as his ex-wife and her husband, and it’s his weekend with the kids – rebellious 15-year-old Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and precocious Rachel (Dakota Fanning).  We get a small glimpse of the strained relationship between father and son and then the attack begins.  From here on out, the movie consists of Ray and his two kids running from the “tripods,” and coming up with narrow escapes. 

His plan is to make it to Boston, where his ex-wife is, and deliver the kids safe from harm.  Of course, why a major city like Boston won’t be laid to waste like the rest of the world is an idea that never seems to cross his mind.  During his trek, Spielberg creates some maudlin moments that seem like nothing more than banal attempts at creating emotion.  Robbie’s need to “see” everything forces Ray to let go, both literally and metaphorically, in a scene straight out of a movie-of-the-week. 

Spielberg also defies logic in an attempt at a modern Hitchcockian moment by filming a working camcorder recording an attack.  If all electronic devices aren’t working, then why should this one be okay? 

In this day and age, War of the Worlds can easily draw some parallels to a terrorist attack.  But, instead of letting the story speak for itself, Spielberg begins to pile on.  It doesn’t bother me that a filmmaker decides to put a political message into his film or that you can derive one out from a particular movie, but it becomes a bit tedious when they start hitting you over the head with everything.  In this movie, Spielberg continually drives his point home by destroying any momentum he had initially gained. 

A prime example of this is a rather large chunk of the movie involving Ray and Rachel’s time hidden from attack in a cellar with stranger Harlan Ogilvy (Tim Robbins).  The entire scene feels out of place and rather ridiculous as these highly intelligent alien creatures destroying the world keep searching for and missing the three people in this confined space.  As the scene wears on, it soon becomes apparent that it only exists to capture the mutterings of Ogilvy, as he attacks the idea of the Iraq War...I mean the alien invasion.  Regardless of your political affiliation, it is a cheap shot. 

War of the Worlds paints an extremely bleak picture of humanity.  As soon as the aliens arrive, people become nothing more than rats scurrying about and attacking each other.  And every single human being, except for Ray Ferrier, gives into this mob mentality.  Actually, Ray seems to be the only one with half a brain.  I started to question whether I was watching War of the Worlds or had wandered into the theater showing Land of the Dead.  Not only that, but you’re never quite sure of the extent of the devastation throughout the world.  Spielberg mainly tries to keep things on a personal level as he follows Ray’s run to Boston, and the movie suffers because of it, becoming monotonous and mind-numbingly boring.