War of the Worlds

A solid B+ effort. It's visually compelling, and Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning shine. It's perversely enjoyable to watch Mr. Cruise act like a total jackass. The effects are top notch and the music works in that it neither overpowers the action a la Star Wars. Tim Robbins shows up as the token nutcase, effective as a man who's totally vacant and with nothing to lose. Speaking of Star Wars, it's nice to see that someone watched the Empire Strikes Back with a tripod instead of an AT-AT.

The scene of sheer panic near the Ferry is the films crowding achievement and here Spielburg's direction shines. This moment of random gunfire and pure panic stays with you after the movie.

As far as writing, there are some plot holes big enough to drive a tripod through. If they took the time to bury all the spaceships before anyone was around, why not take over the planet then? Why do the alien's dying cause the machine's to fail? How did Tom Cruise over power Tim Robbins when the latter must have almost a foot and a good 50 lbs on the former?

** 1/2