War of the Worlds

8/10

War of the Worlds is a sci-fi alien invasion flick. It is very loosely based on the H.G. Wells novel of the same name. Tom Cruise plays Ray Ferrier a divorced dad who takes his kids one weekend. During this weekend ALIENS ATTACK!! They come down in a lightning storm and pilot huge tripods that vaporize everybody in their paths. Ray’s loose plan is to get the kids to safety then take them back to their mother. His son hates him and he doesn’t really know his daughter. Over the course of the movie they bond. Dakota Fanning plays his daughter and does a good job acting but is super annoying with her screaming for like the first half of the movie. Cruise also has an execptionally good performance. They work well together and while action is not going on they move the movie along. The main point of the movie though should be the special effects and the alien action. There are huge explosions and people vaporized. The effects are great and the action is intense, but only shortly. There are many boring parts and there wasn’t enough focus on the aliens. Also the ending came too abruptly, but it’s still a good popcorn flick.

 

MPAA Rating:

PG-13 for frightening sequences of violence and disturbing images.