Meh, so its a tripod (mild wotw spoilers)

Finally saw War of the Worlds. Wasn't great, wasn't terrible. The ending was both what I expected, and strangely jarring at the same time. Maybe it was the story pacing that threw it off.

Choosing Tom Cruise as the lead blows it for me. If they wanted me to empathize, they should have chosen someone more mundane, not $20 million/movie Tom. I hate to say but halfway through the film I was thinking about how kookoo Tom's gotten with the scientology. When he does kick alien tale, I'm not thinking "here's average Joe using his wits and rising above the situation," it's more cue the Mission Impossible theme. He's done too many high profile action movies to play Joe dockworker.

This one felt hollow for Spielberg. In Jaws or other bad news flicks you really build up a relationship with backstory and interaction. Here, it's just adrenalin - there's almost no development dialogue. I didn't really care that people survived at the end. And since it focuses entirely on the "everyman story," once that undercooked egg's done, the details of the war are irrelevant.

So... the movie just ends. It's a Spielbergian version of the rollercoaster film, and I'm reaching the point of 'been there done that.'

Tripods were cool, effects were cool, terror was gripping, but flat otherwise. If you like movies as candy, it's good matinee. If you want meat, look some place else. My Grade: C