War of the Worlds

Starring:Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin

Directed by:Steven Spielberg


***1/2 Stars


War of the Worlds: A Movie Review
By: Casey LaMarca

This is why they invented movies.

Steven Spielberg knows how to scare us so much that he scares himself. War of the Worlds is scary, funny, heartbreaking, and with extraordinary special effects. It is more terrifying than any other blockbluster in years. The movie is about choice. There is not one moment in the film where you feel like this couldn’t happen to us.

Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is not what you would call a "good" father. He knows basically nothing about his kids and really doesn't care for them as much as a parent should. His kids, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin) are being dropped of at his house in New York for the weekend. Tension rises between Robbie and Ray as they play catch. When staring at each other, one sees Red Sox and the other sees Yankees. The hats represent the antagonism. Both walk away with anger and disclosure.

Right after a short and brief introduction, Spielberg wastes no time with the invasion. Twelve minutes into the film, the attack begins. Lightening is struck twenty-six times in one spot. When this happens, an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) is set off making all electricity die in a certain radius.

Ray goes to check it out. Everyone is anxious to see what it is. No one is really scared yet. Everyone is fascinated with this crazy storm. Then, the ground begins to shake and the invasion has begun. Aliens begin to zap people. And this zapping is no kid stuff either. This movie has the most graphic “zapping” in recent memory and Spielberg sure does a great job giving the audience goose bumps down to the bones.

After Ray has found the only usable car in the area, he takes his two kids and drives out of the city. While driving, they run into a crowd. People are jumping all over their car. They want the car for themselves and no one else. This shows that the aliens are not just the enemies. You will not see humans working together to survive. Individualism takes over and destroys just as much of humans as the aliens do and I think that is what scares us the most.

The movie is obviously science fiction and it is extremely unlikely that aliens will come to destroy our planet. But there is a realistic side of the film. Rachel asked her father if what is happening is terrorists. Ray must make a choice between saving Robbie or Rachel. He must kill someone to save his daughter. The movie is not about Tom Cruise being the big hero. He is only a hero for his kids, protecting them from whatever comes their way. He will not try to save others just for the sake of saving them. The movie is about choice and what you would do in a situation like this.

When it comes to the ending, Steven Spielberg does not show the aftermath or the rebuilding of the world. He shows the invasion. The aliens do not what to study us, meet us, or use us as slaves. All they want is to wipe us out. In one scene, Ray and Rachel find themselves hiding in an unusual man’s house. This man, known as Harlan Ogilvy's (Tim Robbins) was kind enough to let Ray and Rachel into his house. But he's a little crazy. He discusses about how they will destroy us unless we take a stand. "We’ve been in there to long. This is not a war any more than there's a war between men and maggots. It's an extermination." Sure, it’s political mumbo-jumbo. Sure, I want to stand up to Tim Robbins and ask him why he must write in his own lines and all they consist of is bashing the government we have today. He sure does find ways to make the country even madder. But trying not to let my political views get in the way, Steven Spielberg scares the hell out of us and he knows it.