War of the Worlds (PG-13, 2005)

WAR OF THE WORLDS stars Tom Cruise as Ray, a disheartened, divorced father, taking care of his two children -- 10-year-old Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and 15-ish brother Robbie (Justin Chatwin) -- for the weekend. A brief game of backyard catch reveals immediately that Robbie resents his dad's absence and selfishness. But the domestic strife soon takes a backseat to the gargantuan trauma brought on by an alien invasion -- lightning strikes awaken towering Tripods, machines on long spider legs that push up from under the streets of Bayonne, NJ, the pavement buckling and cracking as people, including Ray, watch in astonishment. It's the watching that dooms them initially: they can't anticipate that the machines will, seconds later, be detonating buildings and zapping human targets into a dust that recalls the white detritus that clung to survivors of the 9/11 attacks in NYC. What comes next is a prolonged look at unthinkable devastation, framed by one family's reactions. In part, this focus is achieved by Ray's quick thinking -- he steals the only working vehicle in sight, determined to drive the kids to their mother in Boston, imagining against odds that this end will provide safety.

Gangbusters effects and terrific camerawork propel Steven Spielberg's film well into its last act, when it runs out of energy and ideas. This collapse is especially disappointing because War of the Worlds begins as a provocative look at how terror affects family and community, that is, something more complicated than an explosion movie. If the first part of the film offers an absorbingly detailed look at the family's dysfunction, the ride in the minivan tightens the focus, as they struggle to make sense of the disaster unfolding around them. "Is it terrorists?" asks Rob. No, says Dad, this "came from someplace else." Rob tries again: "What do you mean, like Europe?" This brief comedy only sharpens the scares that follow, not all caused by aliens. Indeed, two of the most awful scenes involve people fighting each other.

This and other particulars -- a monstrous surveillance eye on a sinuous, seemingly endless arm invades Harlan's basement; clothes from disintegrated victims float through tree branches; a peanut butter sandwich Ray has thrown at the kitchen window slides almost imperceptibly down the glass as he wonders what to do next; Ray asks a man who appears to have survived a plane crash, "Are you a passenger?" -- create a potent mix of recognizable and fantastic moments. The film's last minute breakdown is really the loss of such clever details.

Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, Tom Cruise
Genre: Science Fiction
Run time: 117 minutes
Theatrical release: June 29, 2005
DVD release: November 22, 2005
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: frightening sequences of sci-fi violence and disturbing images