■ Movie review
Special effects send movie out of this ‘world’
"War of the Worlds" is recommended for action fans
but not those who want a thought-provoking film
BY URSULA EVANS-HERITAGE
FREELANCE REPORTER
Ugly, hairless, super-intelligent be
ings from outer space have invaded
the Earth with only one purpose — to
kill us all! Can the emotionally ab
sent Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) save
himself and his two children, in addi
tion to experiencing some much
needed personal growth?
Maybe a more appropriate ques
tion to ask is: Why do the aliens want
to destroy all human life? It seems
like maybe they could reach some
sort of agreement with our world
leaders, perhaps a trade of resources.
But apparently this is not the case.
Another question this movie brings
up is: Why are aliens always depict
ed as being hairless? Star Wars'
friendly ewoks and wookies are the
only big-screen extraterrestrials I’ve
ever seen with hair. But I digress.
Steven Spielberg’s “War of the
Worlds” is the latest adaptation of
H.G. Wells’ classic science fiction
novel. The story is best known for
the Orson Welles radio broadcast in
1938, which caused a lot of listeners
(my grandfather included) to panic,
believing that aliens really had
landed in New Jersey. Of course, any
one thinking rationally should have
realized that if the aliens were really
so intelligent, they would never have
chosen to land in New Jersey.
This adaptation centers on Ray, his
16-year-old son Robbie (Justin
Chatwin. By the way he’s actually 22,
only four years younger than Cruise’s
new fiance) and 10-year-old daughter
Rachel (Dakota Fanning). The two
kids have just been dropped off for a
weekend with dad while their mom
(Miranda Otto) and stepdad go to
Boston. It is evident from the begin
ning that Ray is not a very responsi
ble father, and the kids aren’t entirely
thrilled to be spending the weekend
with him. Little do they suspect that
their weekend is about to get a lot
worse. Bad weather is on the hori
zon, so to speak.
All of a sudden, lightning strikes in
the same place, not far from Ray’s
house, repeatedly. And then total
chaos ensues. Huge machines
emerge from the ground and begin
incinerating people left and right.
“This came from someplace else,”
says Ray. “Like Europe?” asks Rob
bie. No, not Europe. Europeans
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wouldn’t go to war unless they had a
good reason, such as if someone in
sulted one of their soccer teams.
This movie is packed with special
effects and constant suspense. In
fact, maybe a little too much energy
went into the special effects and not
enough into the plot development.
But “War of the Worlds” did exceed
my expectations. The movie held my
attention the whole two hours, and
the acting was mostly believable.
Dakota Fanning’s performance as
10-year-old Rachel is especially con
vincing. I recommend this film for
fans of action, sci-fi and/or Tom
Cruise. I do not recommend this
film for fans of artistic, thought-pro
voking movies or anyone suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder.
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