Director Steven Spielberg turns H.G. Wells’
classic tale of a Martian invasion into a commentary on today’s
collective fear in a post-9/11 world and manages to produce his most
frightening film yet. This loose adaptation focuses on an average
working-class guy, Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise), who has lost his wife to
another man and successfully alienated his two children, teenage rebel
Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and angst-ridden 10-year-old Rachel (Dakota
Fanning). These family troubles fade, of course, when aliens start dropping
out of the clear blue sky and begin the wholesale slaughter of our species
and civilization.
Spielberg spares no expense in chronicling the chaos:
Entire neighborhoods are reduced to rubble; the countryside is torn asunder
while the skies are filled with fire as the alien tripods march across the
planet, leaving nothing alive in their wake. Spielberg uses
computer-generated-effects modestly, integrating them into scenes that
sport massive sets and locations littered with real buildings that have
been given a bombed-out appearance. The price tag on this film, an
estimated $200 million, is high, but there’s no question that every
penny is on the screen.
Although the horrors Spielberg shows are disturbing,
it’s the movie’s subtext that proves most effective and has the
most lasting effect. It’s no coincidence that the threat, though
alien, is from an unnamed location or that the enemy’s victims are
vaporized and turned to ash. The parallels between the disaster on display
here and that of 9/11 are purposeful, as is the point that it’s not
just our physical world that is altered by attacks like these but our
spiritual and moral worlds as well. As society breaks down and its laws
become obsolete, Ray and Rachel are forced to come to terms with a new
world order, and it affects how they behave toward others in ways they
couldn’t possibly imagine.
War of the Worlds suffers
from an anticlimactic ending, which is compounded by Spielberg’s
cloying brand of sentimentality. The bittersweet conclusion he presents is
difficult to swallow and isn’t consistent with the scenes of massive
destruction that precede it. Despite that, this is modern epic filmmaking
at its finest, a spectacular piece of cinema that delivers equal thrills
and chills as it warns against complacency and arrogance, reminding us to
be ever vigilant of enemies from both within and without.
Also in theaters this week. . .
Land of the Dead [R] Zombies have taken over Earth
with the exception of a small walled community that sustained the initial
attack. But, as the zombies begin to evolve, how long can the humans keep
the living dead out? Parkway Pointe, ShowPlace
East
Rebound [PG] After a public meltdown, a
top college basketball coach (Martin Lawrence) is demoted to the junior
varsity team. Parkway Pointe, ShowPlace East
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2005.
