War of the Worlds

I had the privilege of watching Steven Speilberg's brand new version of War of the Worlds just the other day. We all remember the weirdness that happened when this film came out. Tom Cruise began going insane, going crazy on Oprah and embarassing Speilberg. He got into a verbal fight with Matt Lauer on Good Morning America, or one of those morning shows. I actually got up early to watch that one! People were worried about Cruise's mental well-being, and everyone was asking questions about his feirce loyalty to the Scientology cult. And, Cruise was squirted in the face with a water gun at the London premiere of War of the Worlds, and handled it with surprising grace and poise. Then, who could forget the whole Katie Holmes publicity mess? I got sick of hearing about it. With Tom Cruise providing a one-man walking circus, it seemed like War of the Worlds was sabatoged and upstaged from the beginning. Speilberg was hesitant to continue supporting Tom, even though WOTW was about to hit theatres. What an introduction for a summer blockbuster.

With all of that said, I don't think the movie itself got a fair shake. People were so distracted and preoccupied (and rightfully so) by all the strange things going on, most people didn't even care about War of the Worlds by the time it came out. However, when I saw it on a giant big screen Sony, the dust had long since settled with the "real life" soap opera surrounding it. Tom Cruise, like him or loathe him, gets a solid B- from me for his performance in this one. I don't always like him, but when the right role comes along, he's perfect. The character of Ray seems like it's almost on the outer fringes of Tom's ability at times, but the performance is delivered nicely. Dakota Fanning is good. The guy that plays Ray's son is great. I have mixed feelings about Tim Robbins in it. He plays a semi-crazy ex-cab driver who fled to the country to escape the alien attacks. Robbins' character is vaguely similar to the one he played in Mystic River, which is why I sort of feel mixed about it. Overall, he's great, though.

The story focuses on this one family unit, as the world comes under attack by aliens. There is not the same grand scope as, say, Deep Impact, or Independence Day. The characters are darker, and more personal. To me, I enjoyed that aspect of it.The writing is fairly good. It's not weighed down with too much pointless dialouge, and there are no cheesey one-liners that often plague "end-of-the-world" films like this one.

Now, about the direction. It feels as if Speilberg had something to prove to himself with War of the Worlds. (Even though he surpassed having anything to prove to the general public after E.T. !!!) I think he wanted to prove to himself that he's still culturally relevant. He wanted to prove to himself that he can still crank out giant blockbusters, with style and unique vision. In those regards, War of the Worlds is successful. It is also beautifully filmed. Speilberg seems very specific about the type of imagery in every scene. I was taken by the colorful tones and sweeping landscapes. Also, the special effects are truly spectacular.

There are a few things that weigh this film down, however, and keep it from being a real classic. First, it lacks a feeling of being truly epic. The focus is on one family, which was the obvious intent. But, it tends to hold back the full potential. Another thing that weighs it down is the dark tone. It could've stood a little more humor, a lighter note here and there. It was just such a downer. For a mass audience, I can understand how it's a bummer. And, the ending. I won't give it away, but the way it ends had me asking, "So,...what's the point?" And, that may be the biggest flaw of this film. What's the point?

My rating: 2 out of 5