War Of The Worlds
This is one of the few flicks that had the honor of being discovered by me whenever it was broadcast. The alien tripods, the sounds they emitted, and the feeling of doom that hung in the air was my favorite about the movie. Unfortunately, viewing the film today is completely different.
The lack of any relatable characters is frankly the film’s biggest sin; I have never rooted for a family to die so much in a feature film in my life. Dakota Fanning portrays the most obnoxious child in a cinematic piece and had I been Tom Cruise’s character, I would have instead offered her up to the aliens without a second thought.
Robbie was also a total prick and deserved to be vaporised as well. Tom Cruise’s character is somewhat relatable Ray, but rather than sympathizing I would like to add that if I were in his shoes I would let the awful kids deal with themselves and run the other way instead.
It’s comical how characters and story are SO pivotal in a film’s appeal; if you have no emotional investment in their fate, what’s the point?
Moving on from the characters, another flaw in War of the Worlds is that it has the post 911 syndrome so many films had in the first decade of the Millenium scrubbed of color and full of misery; grey clouds were a staple and it all had a very grainy quality.
There was no Confident America anymore, just a cowering America that had to keep saying sorry for being there. I fail to see the reason because America rocks; full stop.
Then, of course, there are the moments where clothing drops to the floor because the rest of the body has been incapacitated by alien forces drawing an over-stretched comparison to 911.
I was very disappointed to hear John William’s score. It was quite dull without anything staying in the memory.
I hated the whole portion with Tim Robbins because it was a point where the movie’s rhythm was broken. It contributed nothing other than having Ray find already horrible children worth killing for.
What about plus points? Pretty much, anything lit like the tripods or the scene where they enter and proceed to blow up the bridge really did look impressive. The scene where Robbie runs off without them into the fire was especially good, not only do you have no idea what lies past that hill but it is a great way to build anticipation.
Many who watched the film expressed their dissatisfaction with the conclusion, but if they would have bothered going through the book, they should know this is the way it was meant to be.
In general, if you want an entertaining alien invasion film, I would recommend the original War of the Worlds, Independence Day or even Battle: Los Angeles which I take it is a very unlikable film by Spielberg’s WOTW.
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