War of the Summer Movies Has Gotten Hotter

Thursday, June 30, 2005

The champion of the summer to beat is "War of the Worlds," Steven Spielberg's fascinating remake of H.G. Wells' novel about the invasion of earth by "unsympathetic" aliens from another planet.

From my review:

...a massive lightning storm draws out the town's curious citizens; gazing ominously at the gray skies. Soon, earthquakes pull the ground apart and three-legged machines known as tripods resurrect above the city and begin blasting people with their death rays - triggering the first of many exciting cat-and-mouse chase sequences in the movie, all of which are eerily convincing.

For an immature divorced father of two who keeps a car engine block on the kitchen table, Ray quickly goes into defensive mode, grabbing his children for a flight out of town. Where, exactly, do they plan to go? We're not sure. Ray isn't sure, and that's the genius of the film. What can they do?