I usually get to the movies once a year at most, but yesterday was my second visit this month.
Yesterday I took my daughter to see War of the Worlds. Now, when I go to a movie I'm not there to get a political or philosophical lesson. I also don't go as a critic with an eye on all the various aspects of the movie. I go to be entertained and I either like it or I don't. Yesterday, I was entertained; I liked it.
This movie is so much better than Star Wars. Now, there's almost zero humor. There's one light moment within the first 5 minutes built around the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry that was lost on the non-Fay audience was about it. And, of course, it stars Tom Cruise, whom I don't often like.
There are at least three Tom Cruises that I can think of: there's the embarrassing when trying to be funny Cruise, there's the non-credible, non-believable superhero Cruise and there's the obnoxious, compassionless 'guy-next-door' Cruise, which I think is the best Cruise. That's who he was in The Firm (probably the only other Cruise movie that I thought was good) and that's who he is in War of the Worlds. The little girl who plays his daughter is very good, but I generally think little kids are better actors than adults probably because playing 'pretend' is natural to them.
The action is almost non-stop. I was drained when I left and even the flat ending didn't phase me. If you can just enjoy a science fiction movie without getting too bogged down in the science and can just enjoy a movie without worrying obsessively about the plot, then this one's all right.
