War of the Worlds Review
8/12/2005
At the last minute, my wife and I decided to catch Spielberg's War of the Worlds at the theater last night.
Quick Summary: Good enough, tense enough, pretty enough, gritty enough, but nothing terribly outstanding or memorable (though I really do like the design of the tripods). Worth the price of admission, and I'll probably see it again when the DVD comes out.
Good Points: Tom Cruise plays the lead, a divorced single dad who lives much like other down-and-out single dads do. Messy, low-rent house, steady dead-end job. Gets the kids for the weekend - only this weekend, he ends up running from an alien extermination instead of having to suffer through reruns of Spongebob.
His acting isn't necessarily outstanding or memorable, but he provides enough conviction to keep the story going. Because this retelling relies on a certain sense of 'edgy realism,' an over-the-top performance would have seemed awkward. For instance, there is a scene where he 'snaps' after having witnessed some fairly intense carnage and destruction. He tossing a half-made peanut butter sandwich against the window. One part of me wishes he would have flipped out a bit more, because the whole movie would have been so much better without having to drag his asshole of a son around. But he just stands there, staring through the window at the darkness. As if his eyes are glazing over to shut out the fear. Nicely done.
In some ways, the mundane characterization of the lead is highly appropriate. After all, audiences are used to seeing the 'uber hero' lead in genre films, and it's a nice relief to get away from that cliche'. This guy's no hero. He's just doing what he needs to do to survive and protect his kids. Run, hide, run some more, and do what is necessary to protect loved ones (in one instance, including manslaughter). And he uses his brain a little. Not much, but a little.
Bad Points: What irritated me the most was the family arguments. It was unnecessary, pathetic, and probably more realistic than what most of the audience signed up for. If this planet is being attacked by giant tripods, I would hope that people not stoop to such pathetic displays of bickering and pettiness. Perhaps Spielberg was trying to show that maybe we at least earned the right to be slaughtered en masse?
Also, in the beginning when we first see the Tripods, none of the extras seem terribly frightened. Hardly even stunned.
Another thing: it is possible to have scenes that do not prominently feature the lead actor. In fact, some scenes would have been much more realistic had Tom Cruise not been planted dead center in the frame.
Lastly, while it was definitely in the spirit of the original novella, some of the liberties taken to 'modernize' the plot seemed less like original storytelling and more like a cheap attempt to stuff what should have been a 90-minute movie with pointless hollywood cliche'. After all, this is Spielberg, so it had better be at least 2 hours long, right?
In the end, we got our money's worth, but this ain't no classic. Somewhere between a popcorn movie and a truly outstanding film. 7 out of 10.
posted by Edward Svengali @ Friday, August 12, 2005,
