War of the Worlds - Ray's Review

War of the Worlds
2005
116 mins

Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp

Starring:
Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier
Dakota Fanning as Rachel
Justin Chatwin as Robbie
Tim Robbins as Harlan Ogilvy

More details available at IMDb - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407304/

The Optimist:
Now as the above photo suggests I do have some issues with this film, but first let's look at the bright side of things. I like Tom Cruise. I enjoyed him in The Firm, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, the Mission Impossible films and particularly The Last Samurai. I didn't find his celebrity status distracted me at all during this film. I don't care what his religious beliefs are and I don't care who he's dating.

However I didn't like Minority Report (too much of a stupid whodunnit mystery for my taste) so I wasn't overly excited about their reunion. But War of the Worlds surprised me, I didn't expect it to have so little plot and it was this simplicity that I thought was it's strongest asset and it's biggest weakness. Let me explain. This is the plot - Keep running and try to avoid being killed. Seriously, that's it! Unlike other disaster epics this one wasn't filled with a bunch of naff sub-plots about dogs (ID4), guy's wearing glasses typing unconvincingly on a computer with 8 screens and boring governmental types standing around looking serious. As Spielberg has pointed out in several interviews he wanted to keep the focus entirely on the people in jeopardy and that's just what he did, whether you think this works is of course entirely subjective, but for me the focus was a little narrow (particularly once we got to the scenes with Tim Robbins, I felt shut-out and uninformed of what was really happening, but this may have been the filmmakers very intent). Hey shut-up cynic, your turn is next!

Yet this narrow focus also worked really well in places, especially during the build up to the first tripod's arrival. What a terrific scene! As some other reviewers have pointed out, nobody knows how to manipulate an audience and build suspense like the Spielbergo. Graphics wise I was fairly impressed. Some people had issues with the tripods looking stupid but I thought they looked suitably menacing, especially in the night time scenes. In fact they reminded me a little of the squids from the Matrix, with all their creepy tentacles whipping about. The compositing was top notch and the tripods never looked like it they had just been plonked into a scene. The zapping effect was great, I liked the way it only evaporated the body and sent people's clothes whipping out into the air (creating one of the most striking shots as Ray and Rachel run through a dark forest with clothes falling down all around them).

Visually this is a strong film. Many of the shots have been burned clearly into my memory and can be recalled in vivid detail, a tribute to how effective Janusz Kaminski's cinematography is (a long time collaborator with Spielberg). Performance wise I felt everyone was adequate but I was never particularly engaged by any of their interactions.

Overall I was entertained from start to finish but never actually blown away by anything, which is something that I guess I expected to feel from such a big budget, high caliber production. But I was impressed by how intimate the film was considering it's genre. I am interested to see how I will feel about it on repeat viewing, perhaps it will grow on me a little more?

The Cynic:
Here are my main grips. Very slight spoiler ahead...
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If the aliens (or 'them' as they are cunningly referred to) are here to harvest us, why the hell were they killing everyone in sight for the first hour of the film (to instill fear perhaps)? Apart from a bunch of people stuck in cages near the end I only recall seeing one person actually harvested (a process where they apparently stick something into your head and suck your blood out, a little like the disgusting Brain bug in Starship Troopers). So I must say I was pretty confused about their motivations for being here. End of spoiler

Secondly I found the whole 'Ray is a bad daddy and his kids feel unloved by him' weak, lacking in subtlety and frankly tedious, but I guess it bets him being Super Dad and having his kids love him to bits or something equally sappy.

Thirdly (and this seems to be unanimous with most other reviews) once Tim Robbins's utterly annoying character turns up things definitely get worse and never recover. I guess they felt they needed a break from running around and looking into the sky, but if hanging out in a basement with an over-actor was the only option I'd take more running around any day! Also once we do get a glimpse at the aliens themselves they are cliche and underwhelming (yet I can forgive this if their intention was to base their look on the classic alien stereotype to strengthen believability).

Spectacle wise, I know I was meant to be impressed, but somehow nothing - except the storm clouds and the arrival of the first tripod - managed to blow me away. For a film that tried to put me in the shoes of it's protagonists I felt strangely detached and unconcerned for their safety.

This brings us to the ending. Which I feel mixed about. On the one hand I was glad that it wasn't incredibly sentimental but on the other hand it came suddenly and wasn't very fulfilling. I feel convinced that there may have been a stronger note to end on.

This time the cynic within was too strong to ignore.

P.S. If Tom Cruise offers to make you a peanut butter sandwich, just say yes!