War of the Worlds

Review by Tim Basham
War of the Worlds second opinion.

In the beginning there was H.G. Wells' 1898 book entertaining the prospect of alien invasion as a symbol of an approaching world war.

Then Orson Welles brought Martians to our doorsteps with his almost-too-realistic 1939 radio broadcast.

Now, Steven Spielberg may have to change his name as he joins this elite group of contributors to the "War of the Worlds" legacy.

Just as he did with E.T., Close Encounters, Jaws and Jurassic Park, Spielberg has made the right movie at the right time. In War of the Worlds he takes our fears, our strengths, our compassion, and especially our resiliency, and brilliantly feeds it back to us in an electrifying, anxiety-laden tale complete with a heavy dose of digital dynamite.

When his ex-wife (Miranda Otto) drops the kids off for a rare weekend visit, it's pretty clear that ex-husband Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) will not be winning the father-of-the-year award. His refrigerator is almost empty, his teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) calls him Ray, and he soon learns that his daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) has been allergic to peanut butter her entire life.

But their already fragile relationship is severely tested when a brief but strange, and terrifying, lightning storm hits the neighbourhood and sucks the electricity and power from everything -- even automobiles. While the kids wait at home, Ray walks to the site of the lightning strikes and witnesses the beginning of an ET close encounter of the worst kind when a metallic, alien robot-thing emerges from underground and uses its death rays to vaporise everyone in sight.

While in the past Ray may have been a miserable father, he quickly takes the job seriously as he and the kids stay one step ahead of the metal-heads while trying to leave the city - along with millions of their fellow citizens. But the danger comes from all directions, and not just from the aliens.

Cruise's portrayal of Ray is convincing. But the inherent personality of the character doesn't lend itself to an actor's studio kind of performance.

Ray is like the guy who saves a hundred soldiers at Okinawa but we wouldn't think twice about as we pass him on the street. He's full of bad decisions and selfish intentions. But when life is in the balance, he makes the life-saving choices.

Fanning is wonderful as Ray's young, terrified daughter, screaming her way through scene after scene as only an eleven year old can do. And Tim Robbins' brief performance as a gun-toting loony is creatively used as the shaky voice of both doubt and reason.

Spielberg has begrudgingly been brought into the world of digital filming, preferring the smell and feel of real film. But his friend George Lucas helped him see the light, and like a fish to water, Spielberg has embraced the technology by using it to its fullest advantage. Simply put, the eye candy is masterful.

Real disasters both natural and manmade are incorporated into the movie. As aliens blow apart the upper deck of a freeway, tossing 18-wheelers like matchbox cars, we're reminded of the Oakland earthquake of 1989. And the memories of 9/11 are stirred in many of the film's dramatic moments. The obvious references aren't so much exploitative as they are just sincere responses to the universal grief we've shared since the twin towers went down.

Spielberg not only reminds us of how vulnerable we are, but also how people can evince courage and tenacious optimism even in the darkest of times. We may have taken a bad hit, but hey, we're still here.

But just like Wells' original story, the symbolism of Spielberg's War of the Worlds is there for all to see and contemplate. However, in the end all we really want is a good story to entertain us.

And in that Spielberg succeeds magnificently.

5 out of 5

War of the Worlds
Australian release: Wednesday the 29th of June, 2005
Cast: Tom Cruise, Miranda Otto, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, James DuMont.
Director: Steven Spielberg.
Website: Click here.

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