War of The Worlds

[Miriel]

I loved the movie. It was electrofying, edge of your seat goodness. Some scenes literally had me holding my breath and gripping the arm rests. No one can do a Summer blockbuster like Spielberg.

Not the that the movie didn't have it's problems. But for a pop-corn flick, it was great.

What I liked:
(SPOILER)1) All the scenes of destruction and mayhem.
2) The scene where the crowd attacks Ray and Co. in the car. That was such a chilling sequence for so many reasons. And probably the best example of Spielberg's masterful direction.
3) The river of bodies.
4) The Ferry Boat sequence.
5) The fact that everything was seen through the eyes of Ray and his family.
6) It wasn't a war, it was an extermination.

What I disliked:
(SPOILER)1) Robbie surviving. I understand that the ending was faithful to the book, but man oh man, It just SUCKED.
2) Mary and her family looking like they stepped out of a Sears family photo when they came out to greet Ray and Rachel. What the hell? The entire world is being covered in blood, but these people don't have a scratch on them?
3) The hide-and-seek sequences in the basement. I have a great ability to suspend my disbelief, but I'm supposed to buy the fact that a super intelligent alien can be fooled by a mirror? Please.
4) General pacing and continuity issues.
5) Robbie needing to fight with the Aliens. What? Seriously, what?

The first hour was almost flawless. Dakota Fanning made me want to strangle her, but I think making her annoying might have been intentional to add to the frustration of the situation. The second part wasn't nearly as good and most of my problems with the movie came toward the end. What I loved most about the movie was how downright depressing parts of it were. Cold, calculated murder on the Alien's part, mass panic, mob violence, and virtually zero chance for the humans to fight back. Which is why the ending was so jarring after all the wonderful grimness.

But overall the film was great fun. I don't think I've seen such a tense and compelling movie in a really long time.

Necronopticous, most of the major critics have given War of the Worlds decent, if not great, reviews. Excluding Ebert of course. But La Ebert went senile a long time ago.

And on a slightly related note, the trailers attached to this movie made me go spastic. King Kong, Chronicles of Narnia, and Elizabethtown trailers one after the other? I nearly died.