War of the Worlds

I have mixed feelings about this film. I saw this at an old theatre that had the sound coming from behind the screen and all the sharp sounds made my ears hurt. The blood and guts and the aliens made my eyes hurt. The aliens in this film looked stupid even though they tried to follow the original War of the Worlds.

Tom Cruise plays a Dad that isn't a very good Dad. His son and daughter rely on their mother and this particular weekend they're staying with their Dad to spend some quality time together- all parties reluctant. In the back yard a strange storm is brewing– at first cool then creepy. Cruise goes to the center of town to see what's going on and realizes that they're being attacked.

Cruise flees with his son and daughter in the only working vehicle just a few minutes ahead of the aliens. But they catch up. The whole movie is about survival. How is Cruise going to survive and bring his kids through this, if there is, in fact, a way to escape being eliminated.

This film has the destruction of 9/11 and what we'd imagine the end of the world looking like. The only acting I found to be compelling was Dakota Fanning, Cruise's daughter. She's a good screamer. And we see mostly how this attack affects her.

The ending to this film was major cheese after the intense hours of special effects and destruction. You really didn't care whether or not anyone died. There was no routing for the common guy to win- not even when the world was ending.

So, if you're in the mood for an alien film, watch E.T. or Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Better aliens. Better stories. Better movies.

Worth the money rating: $$