War of the Worlds

Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks pictures presents

Starring: Tom Cruise, Justin Chatwin, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Rating: ****1/2

Plot: Based off of the classic H.G. Wells novel we follow a family which tries to survive an alien invasion. Forget Independence Day and Signs, this is now the ultimate alien flick.

Acting: Has Tom Cruise put a bulls eye on himself recently with the Katie Holmes junk and the insane interviews he's been giving? Yup. Still this means nothing about his acting talent. Actually Cruise has recently brought some great performances like in the Last Samurai a very underrated movie where I think only one or two actors could have done better. He made Collateral what it is without him that movie might have seemed over the top or just stupid. Here he is believable and all that stuff from television and tabloids begins to fade as you watch him play Ray Ferrier. This guy is a total loser, he cares more about his mustang than his kids. He knows absolutely nothing about raising children but when danger shows its face he takes action. Many people will automatically judge and hate this film because of the Cruise bias because of this years events and that is unfair and decently stupid, if you allow tabloids and shows like Opera effect what you do in your life, you need help, seriously. His son in the film Robbie Ferrier is played by Justin Chatwin and very well I might add. His performance reminds of friends of mine I saw days after the 9/11 attacks, who were so furious with the death and destruction they wanted to join the military to fight. Mind you at that time America was still unclear about who attacked us but they wanted to fight this unknown enemy for revenge. Robbie has the same feeling after witnessing the death and destruction the aliens bring. Now Dakota Fanning plays Rachel Ferrier and this young girl is talented beyond her years. Sadly though her face is becoming too recognizable and she almost acts beyond her age to the point you don't believe she is a little girl. There are some shinning moments for this little girl to the point I'd say she deserves Oscar simply because of her age and what her facial expressions can portray. The family works these three actors work amazingly well together and there are some general funny moments between them, even real moments between at the beginning before the aliens arrive. Now Tim Robbins plays a crazy man who helps the Ferrier's find shelter but slowly his mental state breaks down and he becomes almost as big of a threat as the aliens. His character is playing the Curate if you read the book and he does a good job at it too.

Directing/Writing: To keep on with what I was saying before. This movie is very close to the book just with some modern twists too it. I believe young audiences will actually enjoy how this movie works as it is close to the book where we follow people simply on the run. There no stand up scenes where people grab machine guns and mow down thousands of aliens. So young audiences might not be so thrilled about how the movie works. Fans of the book however will certainly enjoy this movie and find connecting things through the plot entertaining. Now Spielberg is a true genius at filmmaking. The first half of this movie is intense and seriously something I have not witnessed before. Reading other reviews online have confused me people with pure hate for this film, most likely stemmed for some hate towards Tom Cruise say you should avoid this movie, not even rent it. I disagree to all aspects. This movie maybe besides Star Wars Episode III is a movie you must absolutely see in the theaters for its visuals. When you witness the tripods attack it is shocking and at times hard to watch because they simply show no mercy. Another stunning moment is when the Ferrier family is driving in a van and a mod of human refugee's basically attack them and then start killing each other. This one scene is probably the most true and reality based scene in the entire film and in any movie I've seen in a long time. It is hard to believe but it has been seen over and over again that during a horrible moment a natural disaster or anything humans will turn on each other, and the greed of individual safety wins over other emotions. This scene is harder to watch than the tripods feeding themselves on human blood, or when they use their heat ray to burn people to ashes. In a way humans are even worse than the aliens in some respect. These moments make the film powerful and very entertaining, and action fans don't be distressed, lots of shit blows up I promise. Sadly once we arrive with Tim Robbins character things slow down and become odd many people will believe the scene in the basement will be like Signs. As I left the theater I saw the movie in I actually heard someone say it out loud. This makes me sad to realize these days not many people read anymore. If people read the novel you'd see that there is an entire chapter about the lead stuck in the ruins of a basement watching the aliens. Anyway Spielberg is back to form here after making light hearted films like The Terminal he is back to his Jurassic Park days with massive action scenes mixed with drama. This is surely the most intense film of the summer and I am hoping many people will look past their biases and see this film for what it is, a perfect example of how movies like this should be made.

Overall: Many people have already written their review before seeing this movie. So no matter what they see on screen they will come out bitter and negative. Go for yourself and make your own judgment but this film is a good time at the movies. A mix of action, drama, and heart ache. I don't know about everyone else but for me this movie is a shinning example of what movies are suppose to be.