'War of the Worlds' will make moviegoers think
"War of the Worlds" is a movie about fear. On the surface, Steven Spielberg's masterful thrill ride is a contemporary update of H.G. Wells' century-old novel that stays fairly faithful to the original alien invasion story and is jump-inducing scary.
But in bringing that tale into the 21st century, Spielberg has loaded his picture with dark images and ideas intented to unsettle the viewers — and not just through the scares that come fast and furious when the aliens make their appearance just a few minutes into the film.
As has been the case with many of his pictures, Spielberg is telling a family story, focusing almost entirely on the experiences of divorced New Jersey dock worker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) and his two children, 11-year-old Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and teenager Robbie (Justin Chatwin).
In just a few short scenes, screenwriters Josh Friedman and David Koepp establish the tension in the family. Ray is estranged from his kids. They now live in suburbia with their mom and her new husband, who are off on a weekend trip to Boston. So Ray is stuck trying to bond with children who want little to do with him.
Then a huge, weird, dark cloud emerges overhead. Lightning strikes repeatedly in the same place. All electric power goes out, even car batteries. Ray runs to the scene of the lightning strike. The earth below the lightning-created crater begins to pulse. It sends cracks through the streets, cutting a church in half and destroying nearby buildings.
A huge mechanical creature emerges from the ground. The squid-like tripod with multiple arms begins blasting away with ray-like weapons, vaporizing people into clouds of dust and destroying everything in its path.
Grabbing his kids and stealing the only operating vehicle — he had told the mechanic how to fix the van as he ran by on the way to the lightning strike — Ray flees the city. As he drives around hundreds of stalled vehicles and thousands of people headed for the country, the stage is set for the rest of "War of the Worlds," which is basically an escape movie.
From the apocalyptic attack that covers cities, the picture gets ever smaller. Its most impressive and tension-filled sequence is near silent and in a basement. That smallness puts the movie at human level, a level of mob reaction, survivalist paranoia and hard, life-and-death choices.
Following 9/11, that intimate view of unexpected disaster gives "War of the Worlds" a new, disturbing resonance. Spielberg drives that home with familiar images — dust-covered people, a crumbled city, an airplane crashing into a residential building, walls of handmade signs searching for the missing. In case the visuals are too subtle, the script finds little Rachel asking, "Is it the terrorists?" when the alien attacks come.
So "War of the Worlds" brings to the surface the "no one and no place is safe" undercurrent that has become something we've lived with over the last four years and makes us confront that fear.
But "War of the Worlds" isn't just about fear of an out-of-the-blue attack from the unknown.
The alien attack isn't really a war. The humans don't have a chance to win. It's either an extermination, an occupation or a colonization. The echoes of contemporary international relations in general and U.S. foreign policy in Iraq in particular are impossible to miss.
Of course, much of the audience won't care about those geopolitical references.
For them, Spielberg delivers the thrills that make this arguably his scariest movie ever. That's right — scarier than "Jaws" or "Jurassic Park." So scary, with scenes so intense and sometimes disturbing, that "War of the Worlds" is definitely not a movie for kids. It is rated PG-13, and in this case the 13 should be taken seriously.
Even on that most basic genre-film level, "War of the Worlds" stands apart from the standard formula. Rather than a broad triumph of humanity ending, a la "Independence Day," the most recent Wells knockoff, Spielberg and company have crafted a low-key ending to a big, noisy film, an ending that is in keeping with the original novel and with the spirit of the film.
The perfectly toned quietness at the end is just another sign of Spielberg's filmmaking brilliance.
With "War of the Worlds," he's crafted an effects-driven spectacle that is frighteningly entertaining. But in making the deaths and destruction personal, "War of the Worlds" runs deeper than the typical Hollywood epic action fare, and in adding the contemporary underpinnings, he's created a serious film, too. That is a rare cinematic accomplishment — and Spielberg is likely the only person who could have pulled it off.
"War of the Worlds" will scare you, touch you and make you think. Not bad for a summer popcorn movie. Not bad at all.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
War of the Worlds
**** (out of four stars)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins
Rated: PG-13 (for brief violence, intense imagery, adult themes)
Now showing: Grand, East Park, Edgewood
The reel story: Spielberg's update of the H.G. Wells alien invasion novel is simultaneiously a scary thrill ride, a family story and a thought-provoking film.
But in bringing that tale into the 21st century, Spielberg has loaded his picture with dark images and ideas intented to unsettle the viewers — and not just through the scares that come fast and furious when the aliens make their appearance just a few minutes into the film.
As has been the case with many of his pictures, Spielberg is telling a family story, focusing almost entirely on the experiences of divorced New Jersey dock worker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) and his two children, 11-year-old Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and teenager Robbie (Justin Chatwin).
In just a few short scenes, screenwriters Josh Friedman and David Koepp establish the tension in the family. Ray is estranged from his kids. They now live in suburbia with their mom and her new husband, who are off on a weekend trip to Boston. So Ray is stuck trying to bond with children who want little to do with him.
Then a huge, weird, dark cloud emerges overhead. Lightning strikes repeatedly in the same place. All electric power goes out, even car batteries. Ray runs to the scene of the lightning strike. The earth below the lightning-created crater begins to pulse. It sends cracks through the streets, cutting a church in half and destroying nearby buildings.
A huge mechanical creature emerges from the ground. The squid-like tripod with multiple arms begins blasting away with ray-like weapons, vaporizing people into clouds of dust and destroying everything in its path.
Grabbing his kids and stealing the only operating vehicle — he had told the mechanic how to fix the van as he ran by on the way to the lightning strike — Ray flees the city. As he drives around hundreds of stalled vehicles and thousands of people headed for the country, the stage is set for the rest of "War of the Worlds," which is basically an escape movie.
From the apocalyptic attack that covers cities, the picture gets ever smaller. Its most impressive and tension-filled sequence is near silent and in a basement. That smallness puts the movie at human level, a level of mob reaction, survivalist paranoia and hard, life-and-death choices.
Following 9/11, that intimate view of unexpected disaster gives "War of the Worlds" a new, disturbing resonance. Spielberg drives that home with familiar images — dust-covered people, a crumbled city, an airplane crashing into a residential building, walls of handmade signs searching for the missing. In case the visuals are too subtle, the script finds little Rachel asking, "Is it the terrorists?" when the alien attacks come.
So "War of the Worlds" brings to the surface the "no one and no place is safe" undercurrent that has become something we've lived with over the last four years and makes us confront that fear.
But "War of the Worlds" isn't just about fear of an out-of-the-blue attack from the unknown.
The alien attack isn't really a war. The humans don't have a chance to win. It's either an extermination, an occupation or a colonization. The echoes of contemporary international relations in general and U.S. foreign policy in Iraq in particular are impossible to miss.
Of course, much of the audience won't care about those geopolitical references.
For them, Spielberg delivers the thrills that make this arguably his scariest movie ever. That's right — scarier than "Jaws" or "Jurassic Park." So scary, with scenes so intense and sometimes disturbing, that "War of the Worlds" is definitely not a movie for kids. It is rated PG-13, and in this case the 13 should be taken seriously.
Even on that most basic genre-film level, "War of the Worlds" stands apart from the standard formula. Rather than a broad triumph of humanity ending, a la "Independence Day," the most recent Wells knockoff, Spielberg and company have crafted a low-key ending to a big, noisy film, an ending that is in keeping with the original novel and with the spirit of the film.
The perfectly toned quietness at the end is just another sign of Spielberg's filmmaking brilliance.
With "War of the Worlds," he's crafted an effects-driven spectacle that is frighteningly entertaining. But in making the deaths and destruction personal, "War of the Worlds" runs deeper than the typical Hollywood epic action fare, and in adding the contemporary underpinnings, he's created a serious film, too. That is a rare cinematic accomplishment — and Spielberg is likely the only person who could have pulled it off.
"War of the Worlds" will scare you, touch you and make you think. Not bad for a summer popcorn movie. Not bad at all.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
War of the Worlds
**** (out of four stars)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins
Rated: PG-13 (for brief violence, intense imagery, adult themes)
Now showing: Grand, East Park, Edgewood
The reel story: Spielberg's update of the H.G. Wells alien invasion novel is simultaneiously a scary thrill ride, a family story and a thought-provoking film.
Copyright © 2002-2009 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.