Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Jul 2, 2005 22:45:39 GMT -5
Plot:As Earth is invaded by Martian war machines, one family fights for survival
Cast:
Tom Cruise
Dakota Fanning
Justin Chatwin
Tim Robbins
Miranda Otto
Rick Gonzalez
My thoughts:Way better than the 1953 original!
Review:Something I never thought I'd see myself saying,but "WOTW 05" is better than the original 1953 version. With todays FX,and the ability to recreate the awesomeness of the disaster scenes from the 1953 original,with way better effects and overall realism,they all came together to create a truly marvelous remake.So without further ado,and without giving away too much of the movie...The best thing about "War of the Worlds", is that Spielberg and the films writers Josh Friedman and David Koepp *get it*. They set up the story nicely before the big catastrophe of invading alien warships takes place.They don't waste time on unneeded dialogue or pointless talking.Just enough dialogue to set up the backstory of Cruises character,and his two children,one of which played by Dakota Fanning.The family backstory works perfectly in the film because it's set up so well in the very beginning.Then the alien invasion further strengthens that part of the film.and Thats where this movie really shines. In it's alien attack scenes. The FX are basically breathtaking. One of the most awesome scenes being when the first alien ship rises from beneath the streets and lays waste to everyone and everything around it.Once the attack begins, you rarely get a chance to catch your breath up until the end of the film. This movie kicks into high gear starting with the on-screen intro of the first alien spacecraft, and doesn't let go of you until near the films climax. Cruise and Fanning give great performances in this movie as humans on the run and scared for their lives. Theres also some very nice comedical bits in the movie which take place during the invasion scenes involving dialogue between Cruises character,his son and his daughter. Of the two young characters in the film, Dakota Fanning gives the best performance. I personally found myself getting annoyed with the Robbie character around mid movie because of all of his idiotic actions. Some people have said this movie was over Hollywood-ized and really didn't have much to it other than that. I disagree. This film had pretty much everything. Very suspensful scenes,some emotional ones,great action scenes,and some very standout performances. But the FX do take center stage.Almost every scene in this movie stands out, but there are two scenes in particular,one about 15 minutes into the movie,and the other near the tail end of act 2,that really stand out. I won't give them away but they're truly awesome to watch on screen. One unexpected tidbit I got from this movie was an attachment to the characters. I expected to go into this movie and see shit get blown up all over the place. That did happen, but it's hard not to get attached to this family and all of the thousands of other people in the film,as we watch them scurry from house to house,location to location trying to survive what you could basically call the apocalypse.I won't mention whether or not we get a glimpse of the aliens or whether the humans win or lose, but I can say that this will most likely be the best horror movie I will see this year. Granted the original fell more along the lines of SCI-FI film,but this updated version with everything that takes place within the film falls strongly on the horror movie side of things. Tim Robbins shows up in this film eventually but playing a character you wouldn't expect him to be playing.The ending is a bit far fetched but after watching this movie from start to finish Spielberg knew exactly what he was doing by ending the movie the way he did.
Pros:Great Annihilation scenes,great FX,awesome performances by Cruise and Fanning.
Cons:There were a few scenes when the aliens first begin to attack that I found a bit unbelieveable. Mainly some close calls involving Tom Cruise.
Overall:Great popcorn movie with more depth than your average popcorn flick.Definitely worth seeing in theaters.and I recommend seeing it in theaters to get the full on effect of this films breathtaking FX scenes.Go see "WOTW" now!