War of the Worlds

With my recent newfound delight in Netflix, and so many strange and exciting holiday films hitting theatres, I've considered starting up a movie critique blog. I've found that I thoroughly enjoy commenting and reviewing films for my friends to read. And, since I enjoy more obscure films at times, (thanks to Netflix), I would love to review them for people to read.

However, I find it trying at times to manage one blog, much less two. But, keep checking back in the near future for this new blog development.

That being said, I had the privelage of watching Steven Speilberg's brand new version of War of the Worlds last night. Unfortunately, I had to rent it through Blockbuster. But, I guess that's another blog entry entirely.

We all remember the weirdness that happened when this film came out. Tom Cruise began going insane, going crazy on Oprah and embarassing Speilberg. He got into a verbal fight with Matt Lauer on Good Morning America, or one of those morning shows. I actually got up early to watch that one. People were actually worried about Cruise's mental well-being, and everyone was asking questions about his feirce loyalty to the Scientology cult. And, Cruise was squirted in the face with a water gun at the London premiere of War of the Worlds, and handled it with surprising grace and poise. Then, who could forget the whole Katie Holmes publicity mess? I got sick of hearing about it. With Tom Cruise providing a one-man walking circus, it seemed like War of the Worlds was sabatoged and upstaged from the beginning. Even near the end of the publicity run, Steven Speilberg expressed concern for Cruise's over-the-top Scientology rants. Speilberg was hesitant to continue supporting Tom, even though WOTW was about to hit theatres.

What an introduction for a summer blockbuster. With all of that said, I don't think the movie itself got a fair shake. People were so distracted and preoccupied (and rightfully so) by all the strange things going on, most people didn't even care about War of the Worlds by the time it came out. However, when I saw it on a giant big screen Sony, the dust had long since settled with the "real life" soap opera surrounding it. So, I felt that I could fairly evaluate this film, and enjoy it for what it was.

Tom Cruise, like him or loathe him, gets a solid B- from me for his performance in this one. I don't always like him, but when the right role comes along, he's perfect. The character of Ray seems like it's almost on the outer fringes of Tom's ability at times, but the performance is delivered nicely. Dakota Fanning is good. The guy that plays Ray's son is great. I have mixed feelings about Tim Robbins in it. He plays a semi-crazy ex-cab driver who fled to the country to escape the alien attacks. Robbins' character is vaguely similar to the one he played in Mystic River, which is why I sort of feel mixed about it. Overall, he's great, though.

The story focuses on this one family unit, as the world comes under attack by aliens. There is not the same grand scope as, say, Deep Impact, or Independence Day. The characters are darker, and more personal. To me, I enjoyed that aspect of it.

The writing is fairly good. It's not weighed down with too much pointless dialouge, and there are no cheesey one-liners that often plague "end-of-the-world" films like this one.

Now, about the direction. Speilberg has created some weird ones his last few times out of the gate. Minority Report, in my opinion, is the worst Speilberg film ever. Many people didn't like A.I., but I was interested in it. With that being said, I think Speilberg sort of had something to prove to himself with War of the Worlds. (Even though he surpassed having anything to prove to the general public after E.T. !!!) I think he wanted to prove to himself that he's still culturally relevant. He wanted to prove to himself that he can still crank out giant blockbusters, with style and unique vision. In those regards, War of the Worlds is successful.

It is also beautifully filmed. Speilberg seems very specific about the type of imagery in every scene. I was taken by the colorful tones and sweeping landscapes. Also, the special effects are truly spectacular.

There are a few things that weigh this film down, however, and keep it from being a real classic. First, it lacks a feeling of being truly epic. The focus is on one family, which was the obvious intent. But, it tends to hold back the full potential. Another thing that weighs it down is the neverendingly dark tone. It could've stood a little more humor, a lighter note here and there. It was just such a downer. Personally, it wasn't too dark for my taste. But, for a mass audience, I can understand how it's a bummer. And, the ending. I won't give it away, but the way it ends had me asking, "So,...what's the point?" And, that may be the biggest flaw of this film. What's the point?