War of the Worlds
Hmmm... not too sure about Tom Cruise's latest epic.
The effects are great, but - there's a sense of studio about them. Little Dakota Fanning is creepily brilliant, but Tom's the only other character, and he doesn't do half the job he's capable of (we need another 'Magnolia' if you're ever to get the Oscar you deserve, Tom). And the crowd scenes don't seem crowded enough, as if they couldn't afford enough extras.
Next, the story misses an important couple of conflicts - that would've made great setpieces. Where, for instance, was Thunder Child, the gunboat that heroically sacrificed itself and took two tripods with it, letting the passenger boat get away? A US Navy vessel would have fitted well with American sensibility... as would the young Curate, holding up his crucifix to the devilish aliens (imagine a TV evangelist). But neither scene is in the film. And much more could have been made of the man in the ruined house, trying to dig out a new world underground. There's no real narrative structure to this film - odd since the book's 27 chapters give a beginning, middle, and end in three neat sections of nine developments each, an unusually transparent story outline.
Finally, the film ends in a real let-down. HG Wells tempered the book's lack of a final epic conflict by making it character-centric: he resolves to give his life to the Martians and approaches a tripod. But there's no hint of suicide in Cruise (despite the way it would have fitted the character.)
So - too many missed chances, and too few redeeming features. Better luck next time, Tom.
The effects are great, but - there's a sense of studio about them. Little Dakota Fanning is creepily brilliant, but Tom's the only other character, and he doesn't do half the job he's capable of (we need another 'Magnolia' if you're ever to get the Oscar you deserve, Tom). And the crowd scenes don't seem crowded enough, as if they couldn't afford enough extras.
Next, the story misses an important couple of conflicts - that would've made great setpieces. Where, for instance, was Thunder Child, the gunboat that heroically sacrificed itself and took two tripods with it, letting the passenger boat get away? A US Navy vessel would have fitted well with American sensibility... as would the young Curate, holding up his crucifix to the devilish aliens (imagine a TV evangelist). But neither scene is in the film. And much more could have been made of the man in the ruined house, trying to dig out a new world underground. There's no real narrative structure to this film - odd since the book's 27 chapters give a beginning, middle, and end in three neat sections of nine developments each, an unusually transparent story outline.
Finally, the film ends in a real let-down. HG Wells tempered the book's lack of a final epic conflict by making it character-centric: he resolves to give his life to the Martians and approaches a tripod. But there's no hint of suicide in Cruise (despite the way it would have fitted the character.)
So - too many missed chances, and too few redeeming features. Better luck next time, Tom.
posted by chrisworth at 7:51 AM
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