Saw War of the Worlds last night with the buttonWife. She wasn’t sure what to expect and wasn’t keen on seeing this particular movie. As we were walking out she couldn’t stop saying “Wow!” War of the Worlds is an intense, non-stop exercise in making your audience feel sick and helpless. I’m personally not a big Tom Cruise fan but I make exceptions for movies that look too good to pass up. I’m glad I didn’t pass this one up.
It goes without saying that the effects and sound were top-shelf. We’re talking about Speilberg here. I’m only casually acquainted with the source material but what I recall was faithfully represented. The noises those alien tripods make will definitely haunt my nightmares.
I thought this would have more social commentary than it did, but it seemed to shy away from it at times. I didn’t care for Tim Robbins’ side-ways political jab with his little “occupations never work,” comment but I’ll let it slide (if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know why I’ll let it slide). While WotW surrendered to a few movie cliches it took itself serious enough to work but not overly so. Definitely makes you think about your own mortality and what’s lurking beneath the surface.
I give it a button-mashing thumbs up.