Movie Reviews
After seeing War of the Worlds, I tried explaining it to my anxious friends who had yet to see it. It became a task of overcoming speechlessness, which I failed at, and instead just left my friends even more anxious than before. I could not find the words to express how the film made me feel, what awesome sights I had just seen, or how it would affect them.
As dramatic as that intro is, I must also say that Steven Spielberg has accomplished a massive event picture that rivals any of its kind. This is sweeping, loud, boisterous entertainment raging with the anger and paranoia of a frightened post-9/11 America. Thats where the real scares come from the almost-too-real shots of mass destruction.
What about the other scares? Well, for one, the aliens. These are not cute childlike extraterrestrials like E.T. or the aliens from Close Encounters. Theyre menacing, and come with their giant tripods zapping humans with their death rays and sucking the blood for harvest. The first scene in which one of these tripods is revealed is quite something to see.
Now, why they would disintegrate some humans and kill other for their blood is not explained it doesnt need to be. In fact, it shouldnt be. We dont know anything about the aliens why theyve come, why theyre hostile and so to have a character explain to the audience exactly what is going on and why would be to put that character above even the aliens. The anonymity of these intruders is what makes them so frightening.
In the film, Tom Cruise plays Ray Ferrier, a deadbeat dad living by himself until his ex-wife and her new husband leave for the weekend. His two kids, Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and Rachel (Dakota Fanning) are forced to stay with him. Meanwhile, an alien invasion breaks out and a huge war begins extremely fast.
It is surprising to see Cruise play this much of a jerk to children, and he pulls it off very well. The process of reconciliation between him and his kids is not rushed and feels real. Fanning and Cruise have a particularly good chemistry together.
I mentioned massive earlier. That, all itself, is an understatement. I stated to my friends that I cant comprehend a filmmaker thinking on such a grand scale. That Spielberg harnessed that imagery and put it on film is miraculous.
I must talk about Janusz Kaminskis cinematography. This is Spielbergs ninth film with the photographer and I hope they have another thirty films under their belt because no other team has the ability to integrate confident direction with visceral cinematography the way Kaminski and Spielberg do.
There is a sensational piece of camerawork where the camera follows a van holding Cruise and his two kids. The camera never cuts during the scene, and yet swings in close for the dialogue and swings back out for the action.
What is so special about War of the Worlds is how the story holds true even today. Especially today. One or two scenes are as harrowing as anything Ive seen in years. But Spielberg doesnt use that terror to entertain us. No, instead it downright scares us.
Something else I said to my friends about the film was that it was the scariest film Id seen in a many a moon and its not even a horror movie. Spielbergs vision is solid; it never crumbles under the weight of this monstrous story. Savor every moment of it because there are precious few directors who can marry special effects with live action photography as Spielberg can, and make it seem as terrifyingly real as all this. ****