Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: David Koepp
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson
Actors:
Tom Cruise …. Ray Ferrier
Justin Chatwin …. Robbie Ferrier
Dakota Fanning …. Rachel Ferrier
Tim Robbins …. Ogilvy
Miranda Otto …. Mary Ann Ferrier
David Alan Basche …. Tim
James DuMont
Yul Vazquez …. Julio
Genre: Science-Fiction

Rating : 4/5

All you can really say about War of the Worlds is: a) thank goodness Steven Spielberg has had a lifelong obsession for aliens great and small and b) he has the fortitude and talent to make an invasion by them scary, intense, and so damn real.

Plot Summary

On June 29th, 2005, Earth goes to war. From Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures comes “War of the Worlds,” directed by Steven Spielberg and starring international superstar Tom Cruise. A contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells’s seminal classic, the sci-fi adventure thriller reveals the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family fighting to survive it. The film also stars Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, and Tim Robbins.

Cruise stars as Ray Ferrier, a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife (Miranda Otto) and her new husband drop off his teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and young daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.

Moments later, at an intersection near his house, Ray witnesses an extraordinary event that will change all their lives forever. A towering three-legged war machine emerges from deep beneath the earth and, before anyone can react, incinerates everything in sight. An ordinary day has suddenly become the most extraordinary event of their lifetimes - the first strike in a catastrophic alien attack on Earth.

Ray scrambles to get his children away from this merciless new enemy, embarking on a journey that will take them across the ravaged countryside, where they become caught in the desperate tide of refugees fleeing from an extraterrestrial army of Tripods.

But no matter where they run, there is no safety, no refuge… only Ray’s unconquerable will to protect the ones he loves.

Story

Based on H.G. Wells’ classic 1898 novel, this War is set in a contemporary world, where the threat of terrorism looms around every corner. But not even the brains at Homeland Security can prepare the human race for this kind of an attack. After a series of mysterious and powerful lightning storms strike all over the world, giant three-legged war machines, long buried beneath the earth, rise up and start incinerating everything–and everyone–in sight. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise), a divorced New Jersey dockworker, horrifyingly witnesses the first strike in this catastrophic alien invasion. He is suddenly faced with protecting his estranged children–teenager Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and young daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning)–after they are left with him for the weekend. Traveling across the ravaged countryside, Ray takes them on a journey to reunite them with their mother, and gets caught up in a desperate tide of refugees, fleeing from a seemingly inexorable and merciless enemy. But are they really unstoppable? Ha! We’ll see who has the last laugh, you nasty old susceptible aliens.

Acting

As I watched Tom Cruise run and hide from the invading aliens, I didn’t once think about Scientology, antidepressant drugs or Katie Holmes. Not once. That’s because no matter what kind of personal issues Cruise has going on at the moment, he is a consummate actor, drawing you into his on-screen world without missing a beat. As deadbeat dad Ray, Cruise aptly exhibits an apathy to his prodigy, only to then turn into a courageous American hero, fighting to protect the ones he loves, without one clichéd speech or false moment. Quite a feat. Of course, he also has a lot of support from his co-stars, especially Dakota Fanning as his daughter, in keeping things genuine. While either playing terrified with fervent screams, or deadly still from shock, the young actress’ tearstained face gives the whole horrific experience a very human quality. Man, imagine what’s she’s going to do once she’s an adult. Chatwin (The Chumscrubber) also does a fine job as the rebellious teen, whose growing need to join the fight has his dad torn up inside. Tim Robbins makes a memorable appearance as a refugee on the verge of madness, holed up in a bombed-out basement and ready to single-handedly take the aliens down. And finally, as a nice touch, we hear Morgan Freeman’s deep, resonate voice open and close the film with very poignant passages from H.G. Wells’ literary masterpiece.

Direction

Spielberg’s back–and what a relief! A War of the Worlds update is just what he needed to rejuvenate himself, especially after his latest slate of tepid movies (i.e. The Terminal, A.I.). I mean, it has been a long time since we’ve seen the passionate Spielberg–the special-effects driven director who challenges himself to make the most visually stunning movies ever (Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark) or the finely tuned director who can create the most incredibly intimate movies against a historical backdrop (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List). And nothing on this earth inspires Spielberg more than aliens, especially now that he has grown older and wiser since his kindler, gentler E.T. days. Keeping to Wells’ original source material, and paying homage to both Orson Welles’ infamous 1938 radio play (both are set in New Jersey) and the original 1953 film (a marvel of special effects for its time), War is an absolute seat-gripping wonder to behold. From the beginning of the Tripod war machines’ reigning terror, disintegrating poor souls with their heat rays or snatching them up in the air with their tentacle extensions (to use for a very gruesome task indeed), it’s shockingly realistic. The only small drawback is showing the actual aliens, especially in this sophisticated day and age of Alien and Independence Day. It just isn’t necessary and adds very little to the already mounting tension. But it’s a small quibble. This War will give you nightmares for weeks.

Positive points

Though clearly a selfish dad before the crisis, Ray discovers a sense of paternal responsibility in protecting his kids from the invasion, risking everything to keep his family together and alive. Robbie and Rachel are close, supportive siblings who have learned to take care of each other in the wake of their parents’ divorce.

Violent Points

The body count in War of the Worlds, both seen and implied, is massive. In every place the relentless alien war machines attack, we’re left to assume most of the human population is obliterated. We see numerous people vaporized by alien lasers, lost to explosions, presumably crushed by flying debris and drowned in a water attack. Dead bodies float down a river and hang limply from a downed airliner. Survivors riot over a rare working car, smashing windows and bloodying faces. Guns are fired in a crowd. The military engages in all-out assaults against the machines, complete with automatic weapons fire, air strikes and huge explosions.

The aliens take some humans alive, storing them in external “baskets” to be ingested by the apparently biological war machines. Gallons of what appears to be blood flow freely from the machines. At one point, the air is humid with human blood, as we see a living person dropped to the ground out of view and then impaled with a giant alien needle to suck out his blood. Blood-colored vines cover the ground and structures in areas the aliens have conquered. To protect his family, Ray apparently kills another man (off-camera) who is recklessly putting them at risk of capture.

Viewers may find the Ferrier family hard to warm up to. Ray is self-absorbed and distant from the kids. Meanwhile his son is cold and rebellious, and his daughter is whiny. Desperate attempts to protect his family lead Ray to treat nearly every other human on the run from the aliens as expendable. Not prone to heroics or self-sacrifice, he offers little assistance and directly endangers or harms people amid the chaos. We are expected to excuse him for murdering a troubled man, which is disturbing despite his understandable motivation.

Conclusion

H.G. Wells’ classic invasion story finds new life at the hands of one of the best cinematic storytellers of our time. And though director Steven Spielberg throws in some visual references to George Pal’s 1953 version, gone is any hint of 1950s sci-fi campiness. From the devastating “tripod” alien war machines to the exoskeletal aliens themselves, the eye-popping visual effects are pure 21st century. War of the Worlds is classic Spielberg, but it’s a much darker, scarier Spielberg. The brilliantly paced action sequences, hair-raising effects and detailed set pieces bring to mind his Jurassic Park, Minority Report or other classic adventures. But the tone of the film comes closer to the gritty, near-hopeless feelings deep inside Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. Our heroes slowly give in to despair. Don’t expect the congenial diplomacy of Close Encounters or the good times and chest-thumping found in alien invasion flicks like Independence Day.

Some have suggested Spielberg and writer David Koepp are also working a political angle, following H.G. Wells’ path in writing the original 1898 book as an allegory about the British empire overreaching its grasp. Said Koepp to USA Weekend while speculating about possible subtexts, “It could be about how U.S. military interventionism abroad is doomed by insurgency, just the way an alien invasion might be.”

More obvious is the film’s wrestling with issues of parenthood. Despite his recent odd behavior in public, Tom Cruise gives a convincing performance as the less-than-noble Ray. His relationships with his resentful teen son and innocent daughter (the always-amazing young actress Dakota Fanning) are the film’s heart. If any lessons are learned, Ray comes to understand that he should have started investing himself in his children long before he was forced to do so by this outside crisis. His family would have been stronger when the devastation hit.

In promoting the film, Spielberg and his team talked repeatedly about their attempts to keep the human side of things “real” within the fantasy of this alien invasion, mentioning specifically the emotions raised by 9/11. That commitment to reality leaves little room for comic relief and traditional adventure “thrills” in the wake of so much violence, terror and loss of life. Yes, the story consists of a series of near misses and escapes. But the John Williams score doesn’t swell victoriously when Ray and his family survive another close call; it just warns us to brace ourselves for more of the onslaught. The film is expertly crafted and effectively scary, but it’s hard to call this summer blockbuster “fun.”