I think this is gonna end up being a short review. The reason is because this is a tough movie to review. It's an alien invasion movie directed by one of the best directors who ever lived, Steven Spielberg. Obviously it's gonna be better than the horrible "Independence Day," but this is a movie where you walk in expecting something, and you get it, but then when you walk out, you feel like something was missing. I was entertained during "War of the Worlds," there's no doubt about it, but it felt like Spielberg was giving us exactly what we wanted; nothing more, nothing less. It's a testament to his directing abilities that even when he's on auto pilot, the guy can still deliver the goods.
If I'm not mistaken, within the span of a single year, "War of the Worlds" went from greenlight to release. If it wasn't within a year, it was just over a year, and either way, that's a major achievement with a movie like this. Because of that, some critics have been saying that this movie seems rushed, but I vehemently disagree. I don't think it seems rushed at all. In fact, Steven Spielberg is probably the only filmmaker in the world who is confident enough and skilled enough to deliver a film this ambitious and of this quality in a year's time. The movie lacks passion, and it lacks the humanity of Spielberg's other films, but to say it seems rushed is a critic being lazy and making assumptions.
This movie stars Tom Cruise, who has been all over the media lately because of his kooky behavior. Whether he's babbling about Scientology, taking shots at Brooke Shields, getting water squirted into his face, or declaring his love for Katie Holmes, no matter what he says or does, the media is covering it. Regardless of the train wreck the media makes him out to be, it can't be denied that he's a really good actor. I don't think he'll ever get the credit he deserves as an actor, especially now, and that's too bad. In "War of the Worlds," he plays against type, playing a borderline deadbeat dad who's a selfish prick and a genuine asshole. His daughter is played by the incredible young talent, Dakota Fanning. Prior to this film, the only thing I'd ever seen her in was "Man on Fire," and I was amazed at how she held her own against Denzel Washington. In "War of the Worlds," even though very little is demanded of her, she still manages to deliver an awesome performance. The guy who plays Tom Cruise's son in the film is a guy I've never seen before, an actor named Justin Chatwin, and he's very good. Tim Robbins is also in the film, and even though it's a small role, he's very effective.
The screenplay for "War of the Worlds" was written by two guys, one of whom is David Koepp. Koepp is a writer whose work I like a lot. He wrote "Carlito's Way," "Panic Room," and "Spider-Man," and he helped write "Death Becomes Her," "Jurassic Park," "The Paper," and "Mission: Impossible." He also wrote and directed "Stir of Echoes," which I liked a lot. The person who also worked on the "War of the Worlds" screenplay is a guy I'm not familiar with named Josh Friedman. His first writing credit is for the 1996 film, "Chain Reaction," but since then, his only writing credit was for "War of the Worlds." The weird thing is he's credited as "script consultant" for "Return to Paradise," "Sahara," and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," but I have no idea what being a script consultant means. Anyway, the screenplay for "War of the Worlds" is a decent one, though the ending is very anti-climactic. From what I've heard, the problem with the ending can be attributed to the book, since the movie ending is very faithful to the ending of the original novel by H.G. Wells. The way I see it, if they were willing to stray from the book in the beginning and the middle, why not stray in the end? I dunno, I've never read the original book, so making comparisons is something I'm really not qualified to do.
Steven Spielberg is one of the few directors where even a bad movie from him is still pretty damn good. I'm not saying that "War of the Worlds" is bad, because it isn't. It's just that there isn't anything more than what we might expect from someone of Spielberg's caliber. When a man sets the bar as high as he has, it's very difficult to go over it. Still, this movie is pretty close. "War of the Worlds" is not Spielberg's best film, but it's far from his worst, and it's a great time spent at the movies.
Scale of 1-10: 8