War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg was the summer blockbuster wannabe of 2005. As an aside, it is also the reason that Tom Cruise was doing so many interviews (Matt Lauer and Oprah) that helped turn him into the loon of the year this side of Michael Jackson. But that isn't what I am going to talk about.
War of the Worlds was a visually stunning movie. The special effects were as impressive or more impressive than some of the scenes from Star Wars Episode III. But, at the end of the day, what makes a summer blockbuster wannabe into a true Summer Blockbuster is the storyline and this movie just didn't cut it.
The movie starts very quickly and generally this is not a good sign for character development. We are introduced to Ray (Tom Cruise) who is apparently some sort of awesome machine operator who is begged by his boss to do one more shift. Ray declines because he has to go be a bad father to his two children, a boy and a girl. How do we know he is a bad father? The tour through his house and pretty much everything else in the next five minutes, including an ill-fated game of catch with his son, blatantly tells us so with its Cliff's Notes approach to getting through a story. And that wouldn't necessarily be a problem, except that Cruise is basically playing himself instead of a construction worker from the New York/New Jersey region of the country. I guess the cliched surroundings are supposed to provide what the star actor could not.
And then all of a sudden, (cue the creepy music, dun dunnn DUUUNNNNNNNN) the lightning storms begin and we are launched headlong into a crazy storyline about crazed aliens who, for some reason, want to take over the world. I know that was rather abrupt of me, but that is the way it happened in the movie. All of a sudden and out of nowhere. Which, I am cool with. But by this point, if I am going to go on a journey, I want to care about those who I am following. The fact that I have no idea who played the son, and I haven't even mentioned Dakota Fanning to this point should be an indication of the character development.
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Article comments
1 - DJRadiohead
Craig, this is real well done. I think you managed to get the right temperature here.
Your identification of the flaws is pretty spot on.
My wife fucking loved the movie despite its many flaws. Sometimes the whole can rise above crummy individual parts.
2 - Craig Lyndall
Thanks DJ. I was watching it with my girlfriend. And when it ended we were both like, well, that was something, but what was it? Was it good? Probably not. Was it bad? Surprisingly no. Do I have complaints? Yes.
Very interesting. How did you feel about the Spielberg-ian moments like when the alien knocked the bike off of the wall?
3 - Don Baiocchi
Craig, I felt the same way. Had a lot of problems but was entertaining overall.
However, I'm surprised by your claim that a summer blockbuster is what it is due to story. It would seem story is one of the last factors that helps a summer blockbuster succeed. Your ideal example, The Matrix, came out in the spring and made a lot less money than the big summer blockbusters. And big movies without compelling stories, like The Fantastic Four and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, are often the most successful movies of the year.
Even with War of the Worlds...it is so far one of the biggest (if not the biggest) movie this year besides Star Wars III...and even in your review you say the story is lacking.
4 - Dean
Didn't care for Cruise at all. The only part of the film where I felt he was doing his job as an actor was the scene where he decided to (ahem) "help" Randy Quaid deal with his alien complex. That was a fairly intense bit of film.
Otherwise the stars fo the film were the tremendous special effects and the sound. I can still hear the scream of those alien death machines....Damn that part was fine!
5 - Krasimir [FilmDailies.com]
Definitely NOT on the same page ...
I found the last 20 minutes of the movie unbearable. I should've walked out. I'm still sorry I didn't. The ending is weak and hollow.
6 - Dean
Whoops! Not Randy Quaid - it was Tim Robbins....(mumble) shoulda been Randy Quaid...(end mumble)
7 - FilteringCraig
Krasimir, I agree the last 20 minutes were kind of anticlimactic, but for some reason I didn't hate the movie when it was all said and done.
And when the son walks out of mom's house it was just ponderous... in a bad way.
8 - Tyler Newton
I agree about the ending. The ending is so f**king pathetic. They leave it to Morgan Freeman narration to explain what happens to the aliens? DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB
A certain character who we KNOW died, is alive and clean? DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB
The movie just ends. DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB
9 - Craig Lyndall
yeah the voice over as completion is borderline offensive... It feels like the Dukes of Hazzard or something... Just awful.
10 - visualsimplicity
I some what agree with what's been said, but I want to point out the thing I enjoyed most about the movie. What happens to everyone (except the incredible luck of the main family) in the movie is what I would imagine would happen if we were truly invaded by aliens with superior technology and firepower. What is that exactly? We wouldn't know what the heck to do and just panic and run.