War of the Worlds Review
by [email protected] (Faust668 AT aol DOT com)July 22nd, 2005
WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Viewed on July 15th, 2005
RATING: Three stars and a half
Ever since Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List," the renown director has fashioned his films with darker themes and less heroism than usual. Consider "The Lost World," a mediocre, joyless sequel to "Jurassic Park," that is darker and gorier than the original. Then came "Saving Private Ryan," a bloody, realistic (and patriotic) war picture, "A.I.," a bittersweet tribute to Stanley Kubrick, and the noirish sci-fi spectacle of "Minority Report." "The Terminal" and "Catch Me if You Can" were playful diversions for the Spielman. "War of the Worlds" is a whole other matter - a nailbiting, scary and strenuous ride that recalls the fear factor and atmosphere of "Jaws" and "Jurassic Park." Just when you thought that there was nothing remotely vivid or thrilling about alien invasions - Spielberg pulls one of the best ever made out of his hat without breaking much of a sweat. The audience will be sweating.
Tom Cruise is Ray Ferrier, a crane dock worker who doesn't like to work overtime. He lives in a small, cluttered house in Northern New Jersey, facing the city of New York. It is a post-9/11 world where terrorism is spoken of and the World Trade Center is conspicuously absent from the New York skyline. Ray is not a model dad out of "Father Knows Best" (or "Everybody Loves Raymond" for that matter). He is late in picking up his kids from his ex-wife (thanklessly played by Miranda Otto), who is going on a trip to Boston with her new husband. Naturally, Ray's kids are not fond of Ray, including his ten-year-old daughter, Rachel (Dakota Fanning), and his teenage son, Robbie (Justin Chatwin) who basically hates him. Robbie reluctantly plays catch with his father, and steals his car for a ride around the neighborhood.
Father and son issues don't last when one cloudy afternoon, electrical shocks from the sky pierce the neighborhood that knocks out the electromagnetic fields (electricity is wiped out and cars won't start). Nobody thinks much of it until the next day when huge, threatening tripods burst out of the concrete avenues and start firing laser beams at people and buildings, turning everything into dust. Nope, it isn't the Republicans who are suddenly emerging or some fascist underground army - these ominous tripods are aliens who have decided to zap us away without rhyme or reason (though we are told in the opening narration that the aliens are envious of our world. Since when? I know this is in H.G. Wells original text but I still find it hard to believe).
"War of the Worlds" is essentially about survival as we witness Ray and his family running for their lives from the alien tripods. These machines advance and announce their evil with a loud, thundering horn (reminiscent of the thumps and roars of the dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park"). They also have technologically advanced tentacles that suck up human bodies like madly advanced vacuums (and also perform some sort of grisly human disembowelment though it is unclear why or for what purpose). These aliens are unforgiving in their brutality and relentless nature - they plunge forth violently destroying everything in their paths. Can these destructive aliens be destroyed? What will Ray and his kids do as they scream and argue through most of their journey to Boston to catch up with the kids' mother? And will human beings ever learn that in a crisis, it is better to act civilly than to shoot each other or trample over each other?
"War of the Worlds" is an unremitting assault on the senses, perhaps more so than anything Spielberg has ever attempted before. The first alien attack is so scary that you'll end up on the edge of your seat clutching the arms of the person next to you - you feel like you are right there with the crowds of people. Spielberg's trick is to see the havoc from the point-of-view of the people, including Ray's own POV. We also witness a severe bridge collapse, SUV's thrown up in the air, roads cracking open, buildings demolished, a flaming speeding train, clouds of ash filling the air (a signature moment from "Schindler's List"), bodies littering a river, and red alien weeds covering a desolate countryside
after it is nearly demolished by the alien intruders. There is also a truly nerve-frying sequence where something crashes and burns outside a basement window, though we are not initially shown what is causing such a ruckus. Spielberg's gift is for never showing the audience too much - he leaves us with the long-forgotten act of using our collective imagination.
Writers David Koepp and Josh Friedman are somewhat deficient in supplying strong character development. Ray is shown as the average father as the Everyman who learns to bond with his kids again in a crisis. Yawn. Well, maybe a slight yawn since the writers nor Spielberg lay it on too thick. Still, Ray is just a survivor, like everyone else, and commits an act at one point that will disturb many. It is a Tom Cruise part built for his
own sincere persona but it lacks the nuance of some of his best roles. Dakota Fanning simply plays a smart child who knows how to tear up and scream better than most - she is also more sensible than her dad. Justin Chatwin is not given more to do either, though he has some sort of eerie appetite for being in the midst of destruction.
"War of the Worlds" is not merely a thrill machine because Spielberg imbues it with enough gravity to give you the chills and emotional involvement that lesser directors might have failed to do ("Independence Day" comes to mind). It is executed with enough tension and panache to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Many will admire the director's need to deliver this tale with the urgency of the world we live in now. Others may be dismayed by the director's darker recesses after showing us such friendly aliens in "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." For myself, it is proof that Spielberg still knows how to tap in to our nightmares and potent fears better than anyone.
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