February 24, 2009
War of the Worlds (2005)
Should I see it?
No.
No.
Short Review: This film demonstrates that just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should go through with it.
Spielberg is one of the masters of film, but this is an embarrassment. I have my expectations of Spielberg - extremely high expectations. This is a man who is literally one of the most powerful people in human history. Think of the power he has access to. He IS Hollywood. Everyone who thinks of working in the industry references him directly. He has the industry at his feet and can make nearly any movie he wishes. He has the resources available to him to satisfy any creative itch he needs to scratch. When he does produce something it is a global event. His voice is heard across the Earth each time he clears his throat.
If, as a world, we are willing to allow Spielberg to breathe this rarefied air then we must hold him to the highest standard. With his position, resources and most of all talent, he should be making Schindler’s List level films without fail. Each production stemming from this man’s decisions should be nearly perfect. Is this too high of a standard? No. We should be getting John Ford, Hitchcock or David Lean and we’re getting Michael Bay.
This film shouldn’t have been made. There is no purpose to it. We know the story and Spielberg has nothing new to add except that HE’S DOING IT. The whole production stinks of hubris. It says something about a man who would be in the opening of Austin Powers in Goldmember, holding up his Oscar as a means of showing his importance. Yeah, it’s a joke but can you honestly see yourself doing the same thing?
Here is the whole film: Tom “Sure I’m Straight, Why Does Everyone Keep Asking Me?” Cruise and the rest of the cast spend their time running from unimpressive alien machines while patching up their dysfunctional family. They run some more, they in-fight some more. People get killed then Cruise and family runs some more. Did I mention they run? The story is an exercise in transparency. You know how each scene will play out and you know how the film will end. The fate of the ship in Titanic held more surprises than this sad film. To worsen matters, the internal logic of the whole piece falls apart upon the slightest touch. The rules of the movie are set up in one scene only to be contradicted in the next. The only consistent thing about this film is young actress Dakota Fanning. Fanning is the single bright spot in the film - and I say this as someone who doesn't like Dakota Fanning - she usually irritates me to no end. Other than her convincing performance, we are left with a grand disaster of a film.
Steer clear of Cruise and Steven Spielberg’s self-congratulatory “Me” fest. They’ve made this film for themselves, let them watch it, you don’t have to.
Related Reviews:
Steven Spielberg films
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
The Terminal (2004)
Other Critic's Reviews:
Rolling Stone
Roger Ebert
Labels: adaptation, Dakota Fanning, film, movie review, Steven Spielberg, Tim Robbins, Tom Cruise
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 9:00 AM
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2 Comments:
The purpose of the film was Steven's act of solidarity with the anti-Bushitler crowd - meaning virtually all of Hollywood. It was pushed as a representation of the human cost of the US invading Iraq, in the same way the recent "Batman" was supposedly really about Bush.
It was also not "on the nose" enough to put Spielburg in the moonbat class lest the 50 percent who supported the war stop going to his movies. So what it became was a sorry mediocrity that people will forget about, including it's propagandistic origins.
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