Aliens! Quick, everyone stare in awe!

Well, I saw the big "summer event" movie yesterday, War of the Worlds. All I can say though is "ho-hum." This movie, while a good distraction, was the first of the summer that just didn't thrill me.

I was definitely excited to hear that Steven Spielberg would be directing WotW, with David Koepp assisting with the script (he's done scripts like Jurassic Park, Panic Room, and Spider-Man). Tom Cruise starring. Okay, not the biggest fan of his, but it definitely added star power. I was also excited to hear that they would (for the most part) be closely following the novel, of which I am a big fan.

The novel is an unnamed man's account of an alien invasion in 1898. It mainly follows his exploits as he dodges alien attack, ends up trapped in a basement with an eccentric, and eventually reunites with his wife.

The movie, of course updates this to present day, and adds kids to the mix. The plot very closely matches the novel, which is good. Tom Cruise plays...well, Tom Cruise.. he (and his kids) dodge alien attack, end up trapped... well..like I said, it follows the book.

So why wasn't I dazzled? Well, for several reasons. And these reasons may be why other people will find problems. WotW is nothing new. We've seen it all before, and Spielberg and crew don't do much to add flavor. In fact they try to make it rather preachy. Tom Cruise's character just isn't all that likeable, and his kids don't help...in fact I'm not sure why they were added to the story to begin with, other than maybe to give Cruise's character a reason to be heroic. Most of all, there's no heart to this movie. No "yeah, all right!" moments, even at film's end when victory is assured for the humans.

The novel made it very clear as to why the aliens perished at the end, and there was a nice closing to the novel basically saying how life moved on. The movie omits the nice closing, and condenses the "why" to a single paragraph read by Morgan Freeman. All in all, the movie is very bleak, and none of the heart, or fun, that was apparent in Spielberg's earlier movies is apparent. (Heck, even Jaws was fun.) Even John Williams comes out rather blase in this movie, and I don't recall any memorable pieces of music.

What works in the movie? Well as to be expected, the special effects are mind boggling. And yes, the movie does find a way to be entertaining. And give the movie credit for trying to be different from other alien invasion movies. Here you see the invasion through the eyes of pretty much one person. This lack of "full reveal" is where Spielberg shines as a director.

This movie definitely rates as a good afternoon's distraction, but I fail to see any long-term impact. It's sure to rake in the money (in fact I see the movie has already passes $100 million). But these are the summer months, and darn it, I want to have fun at the movies. Revenge of the Sith, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Batman Begins were fun. And I hope to return to the fun next weekend with Fantastic Four.

*** out of *****