War of the Worlds - movie review

It took me a while to decide on the "W" adjective to add to World in the title of this review for War of the Worlds. Wonderful came to mind - but it implied that the film was strong all-around and it's not. I thought of Wicked - but it too failed to capture the film's essense. So Wild it is. As in, Wild Ride. Because War of the Worlds isn't so much a film as an experience. It's drastically weak on narrative or story development. Instead you find yourself plopped into the life story of Ray Ferrier (and his kids) at one point and then unceremoniously pulled out again - the in between just happens to contain an alien experience.

As the defining director of the alien encounter genre, Spielburg is in his element with this film. The opening scenes feature some strong and creative directive choices (shot composition, transitions)and he manages to reign in his recent schmaltziness. What is missing is the connection to the core character(s) that made his previous efforts so memorable (think...Elliot in E.T. and Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters). I don't know if this is Spielberg's fault, or fallout from the screenplay, or the casting of Tom Cruise - but it, nevertheless, weakens the overall experience.

However, the film is a visually stunning package that adeptly merges new millenium technology with a threat envisioned in the 1930s. Essentially a series of remarkable "reveals", the movie's scenes are beautifully and theatrically constucted. As well, the scope of the action is expertly portrayed in a variety of apocalyptic ways. My brother expressed that his version of movie-fear is chaos and distress in broad daylight. That being said, he should find this movie satisfying as the 15-minute mark War of the Worlds delivers that vision in spades and doesn't let up. That is until a hiding-out scene that bridges the 2nd & 3rd acts runs long and feels a tad too reminiscent of the alien-tension-fest Signs.

On the whole, this world is wild. Most of its running minutes will have you staring at incredible things and gaping (in shock? disbelief?) at the devastation. If you can forgive the family-friendly bookends and the lack of explanations, then you're in for one hell of a time.