This movie will blow you away. If you’re expecting INDEPENDENCE DAY, you’re wrong. Steven Spielberg has made his best film since SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.
This modern take on the classic H.G. Wells tale puts a modern family in the chaos of the alien invasion from the book. The film is scary like no other alien invasion movie has ever been and it is the best disaster movie I’ve ever seen when it comes to capturing the reality of the situation.
Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise, VANILLA SKY) is a working-class divorced father, who is a selfish boy underneath. His ex-wife Mary Ann (Miranda Otto, LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS) drops off their kids — teenager Robbie (Justin Chatwin, TV’s TAKEN) and 10-year-old Rachel (Dakota Fanning, MAN ON FIRE). The film casually establishes the fragile family dynamic and then all hell breaks loose once the aliens arrive. From this point on I’ll let you discover the rest of the story, which is a brutal survivor’s tale.
Cruise is awesome as the jerky father who is really ill prepared to protect his children from an event like this one. Chatwin plays his angry teen character with believability. He’s unlike his father in many ways, but in other ways he’s just like him. Fanning is a true talent and really shines in roles like this one where she’s allowed to be a kid of her own age and not a genius (which she is probably close to being in real life). Tim Robbins (MYSTIC RIVER) makes an appearance as Ogilvy, a man who has become obsessed with survival and beating the aliens. The characters are well crafted and the casting of the smaller parts in the film is brilliant. You feel like you’re with real people that would be in these areas of the country.
Josh Friedman (CHAIN REACTION) and David Kroepp (SPIDER-MAN) have constructed a screenplay with subtle nuance that typical dramas don’t have. The shades of 9/11 give the film a real emotional grounding. Spielberg proves once again that he is a visual master, taking an ordinary shot and making it new and provocative. The visual effects are impressive. The aliens have familiar details, but an overall original look. In addition, the sound work on this film is first rate. It adds a perfect sense of terror to the action without being blatant. Everything weaves together naturally. Do not miss it.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
