Not with a Bang, but a Whimper
Spielberg Takes the Blockbuster Out of Worlds
This is the review I never thought I would have to write. After growing up on Steven Spielberg's films (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T.), I have finally found a film that disappoints me.
Written by: Josh Friedman and David Koepp
Starring: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, and Tim Robbins
Rated
(for
frightening sequences of sci-fi violence and disturbing images) Running time: 116 min.
FilmGuru's Rating : 3 out of 10.
This is not to say that Spielberg has had a perfect track record over the years. After all, he directed a couple of dogs, like 1941 and Hook. Yet, even those who were not enamored by his recent smaller films like Catch Me if You Can and The Terminal, must admit that they were not intended to be blockbusters in the traditional sense.
War of the Worlds is different. Like the great alien contact invasion films before it (including the original 1953 version directed by Byron Haskin), War of the Worlds could have been an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping film to feed audiences' desire for something larger than life. Instead, Spielberg has given us a lukewarm mush that seems to reflect his taste for somber reflection over action.
To be fair, War of the Worlds (as originally written by H.G. Wells) is not meant to be an action movie like Independence Day or Armageddon. There are special effects; alien machines wipe out everything in sight. There is excitement. But the story is not filled with great battles or great heroes. As written, it is objective reporting from the sidelines. This is the story Spielberg has retooled for the 21st century, with an unlikable part-time dad (Tom Cruise) as the lead character.
Cruise plays Ray Ferrier, a divorced father of two. Ray lives alone, surrounded by rebuilt engines. After leaving his job for the day, he comes home to find that he's half an hour late to meet his kids. His ex-wife thinks that he is irresponsible, and the kids are unhappy to be stuck with dad for the weekend. Ray leaves the kids to their own devices and goes to sleep. When he awakens, he finds that his son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) has taken the car and a weird storm is creeping over the horizon. Rachel (Dakota Fanning) is less concerned for her missing brother than she is about the lightning striking nearby. But Ray gives no attention to her either; he is wrapped in his own world.
As a character in a disaster film, Ray should have been dead in the first twenty minutes. He does so many stupid things that it belies probability that he would survive. Aliens rising from the ground blast humans indiscriminately, so Ray runs in the same direction. Cars are destroyed, so Ray crouches behind one. Buildings fall down around him, so Ray runs inside. The aliens are popping up all over the city, so he decides to take the kids back to their mother in Boston. Adding to his sheer stupidity is the unlikable trait that -- as a father -- Ray is utterly inept. He does nothing to calm his daughter's fears. He treats his son like a rival dog in a pissing contest. He talks to both of his kids as if they are an unwanted burden.
Aside from an unlikable lead character, Spielberg also burdens the audience with a story filled with plot holes. In the beginning, when weird lightning storms affect every electronics gadget for miles -- from cars to wristwatches -- we see a man with a camcorder videotaping the approaching aliens. Later in the film, Spielberg also introduces characters who are quickly left behind as they cannot get on the ferry with Ray and his family. Such obvious attempts at emotional manipulation are gross and unwelcome. More frustrating, however, is the ridiculous plot device that these machines have been buried in the earth for thousands, perhaps millions of years, and are now being activated (as if we would not have noticed them when building our cities?).
When Ray and his family take refuge with an older man named Ogilvy (Tim Robbins) in the basement of an abandoned farm house, audiences get the only true suspense in the film. As the realization that Ogilvy is mentally unstable becomes apparent, the conflict between Ogilvy and Ray builds. At first, this man talks about hiding out for weeks. Later Ray must quietly prevent him from axing an alien tentacle that has invaded the basement.
As a global disaster epic, the film lacks scope. Spielberg has chosen to focus on one man and his family instead of examining the world as a whole. This is just bad storytelling. It didn't work for last year's The Day After Tomorrow and it doesn't work here. Science fiction is about humanity as a whole, a science fiction author once told me. It doesn't matter if one character lives or dies if the race as a whole is being obliterated. Rather than focusing on Ray and his family, it would have been much more interesting to see how people all over the world were dealing with the attacks. I'm sure there would be a thousand stories similar to -- if not more interesting than -- Ray's inability to be a good father.
Throughout the film, there are numerous references to terrorism and attacks. This is obviously a film set in a post-9/11 America. Images of a burned out airplane fuselage scattered across a suburban neighborhood is both believable and nightmarish. The question remains, however, if Spielberg is trying to say something more by invoking the H.G. Wells classic at this particular time in history. Is he attempting to suggest that our wars are no more sensible than the gross bloodshed of these aliens? Does he want us to understand that our humanity binds us together in a way that separates us from every other creature?
What is truly startling in the film is not the bloodshed, the devastation, or the wanton destruction of cities. What really surprised me was the lack of humanity in the film. Rather than showing us at our best, showing people helping people in a time of crisis (as we saw in the wake of 9/11), War of the Worlds shows us at our worst. We see fear, desperation, and greed. We see people beating and killing each other to get a working car. We see a boat captain abandoning people on a dock to get away from approaching aliens. We see stealing and murder in the name of survival. This is not an optimistic view of humanity.
To Spielberg's credit, he does not change Wells's vision of the invader's defeat. I had a growing fear inside of me that America would do something Rambo-esque and save the day. Thankfully, that was left alone. But the final scene of the film is so cliche that it made me angry. Rather than accepting some realistic tragedy in the film, everything had to be tied up in a nice ribbon with a bow.
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