War of the Worlds (2005)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  7 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: Like most Spielberg movies, 'War of the Worlds,' is supposed to be about family, but in this one, the tension and spectacle of the alien invasion is what really keeps your bum glued to the seat.
  
  Tom Cruise is a blue-collar worker (yes, really) who has his kids for the weekend, then a bunch of giant aliens invade and start wiping people out. It's then a game of survival as they travel to reunite with the kids' mother and outrun the creatures.
  
  The film builds tension brilliantly in numerous ways. Firstly, the on-the-ground style camerawork and chaotic production design with hundreds of extras makes the panic feel tangible. Then, the design of the creatures themselves - from the sheer scale of them, to the unnerving sound they emit - makes the threat loom large.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The family story at the heart of it feels a little contrived.
  
  VERDICT: 'War of the Worlds,' is Spielberg in his least sentimental and most visceral mode, and that makes for a brilliantly tense alien invasion feature.

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