Despite Tom Cruise's distracting media attention, War of the Worlds manages to earn its title as a summer blockbuster. Steven Spielberg's direction and production of this movie is phenomenally intense, disturbing, and realistic. Well, at least until the end.
Tom Cruise performs superbly doing what he does best as an actor, RUNNING. So with that considered, he was a great choice for the role. Truthfully, he did a good enough job that I was completely absorbed in the movie and forgot his real life antics. And it helped that his co-star was the brilliant little actress Dakota Fanning, who did a fantastic job of being freaked out in every possible level of emotion. And fortunately in this movie she manages only one ridiculously "wise beyond her years" comment when she gives Tom Cruise's character a parenting lesson.
But enough about acting. This movie's real strength is in its intensity. From start to almost finish, this movie leaves you feeling completely hopeless and terrified for the fate of the world. While there might be several scenes where the audience feels disturbed, I felt these were the most impressively accurate. The sheer desperation of humanity in this film was both terrifying and humbling. The scary reality is that man is capable of murder given a desperate enough situation, whether its over the only working vehicle, or to save your daughter's life.
So how did it end?
Well, unfortunately part of how it ends is the film's one major flaw. So big in fact, that it almost disrupts the harmony of the rest of the movie. The father and daughter pair finally make it to Boston to find their entire family perfectly untouched within a completely intact brownstone.
Are you kidding me?? After the horror we have just witnessed, this one lucky family doesn't have a scratch on them...OR THEIR HOUSE?!?! I guess someone in Hollywood insisted on a warm, happy ending which is a tragedy since it almost eclipses the perfect reality of the rest of the movie.
But they did not get the ending completely wrong. Having seen the original movie, heard the radio version, and read the book, I knew how the aliens went down in the end... and I personally love it. They studied our military defenses and how we lived, and they were cocky enough to think they could defeat us. Interestingly enough, the original movie had all the characters going to a church for refuge and their answered prayers were that God had created them with stronger immune systems. Its a very subtle victory and difficult for some people to appreciate because we don't get to blow them up and be "all powerful." But when the essence of this story is humanity, its beautiful that we defeat the aliens not because of our own strengths, but because of a blessing we already had within us that made us survivors.
By Tina Alexander
