This entry could be considered a "spoiler" because I will not hold back from describing elements of the movie that might "ruin" it for those who have yet to see it. However, I don't consider it a spoiler because there is not much to spoil. I write that with a heavy heart because I really like Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise. That's why I'm so disappointed. It is probably important to mention that I haven't read the original H.G. Wells book, so in criticizing the film I hope I'm not criticizing its original writer as well.

The whole movie can be summarized simply as - run, run, evade the aliens, run, hide, run, run, hide and hide some more. All of the running is with the hope of getting to Boston. For some reason, Boston is untouched by the aliens and getting there is better than staying in Queens.

In large part, War of the Worlds reminded me of Independence Day, a movie I really liked. In both films the alien invaders come by surprise, in massive numbers and seek to exterminate mankind completely. They attack mercilessly, without negotiations or even individual identities. We don't know anything about them, where they come from, what they want, what their favorite color is, what kind of society/culture they have, etc. All we know about both movies' aliens is that they are vastly advanced and came to Earth to conquer it whole, without any thought to the countries, cultures or technology of Earth. On the bright side, at least all of Earth is seen as one whole unit, unlike how we look at it ourselves. The aliens don't care any more about the world's superpower and its nuclear arsenal than they do about poor tribes. They don't care about races, politics, or religion.

In writing "alien attack" sci-fi movies there are usually two ways to go with heroes - they are either normal people thrust into the role of hero or they are already heroes that are called upon once again to act heroically. Each style has its pros and cons but both can be very entertaining. We enjoy seeing cool people being cool (James Bond, Ferris Beuller, Steven Seagal, etc.) and we enjoy seeing ordinary people, that we can identify with, do extraordinary things (Jeff Goldblum, Harrison Ford, Neo, etc.). War of the Worlds has neither. In this movie, Tom Cruise plays an average Joe who remains average and ends the movie average.

He didn't save anyone. He struggled to keep his daughter, Dakota Fanning, alive as any father would. He was smart enough to know to change the car's solenoid, giving him the only workable car in the world (the one bit of extra-ordinariness that we get from him) but his younger son didn't even need his help to make it safely to Boston. What a let-down at the end. He worked so hard to protect the daughter but the son was fine without his help.

In fact, we see nothing heroic throughout the whole film (other than the repetition of Cruise protecting his daughter). Did he really have to kill Tim Robbins? That scene had so much build-up but it was wholly unnecessary. Beyond our main character, whom you would expect somehow to "rise to greatness," we see very little about the world around our protagonists. What is the President saying? What is the press saying? Did they try launching nuclear weapons at the aliens? Are there any plans for a counter-attack? Ironically, we do get to hear a broadcast from America's emergency broadcast system. But it isn't even broadcasting an informative message, what we hear is nothing but the standard test message heard in peace-time. Finally, why is there always a hill nearby that blocks our view of what's going on until a main character walks to the top of it and finally shows us what's going on beyond their small, mostly insignificant story.

Another pet peeve of mine is how the giant alien tripods were buried underground for all these years without being noticed. There must be thousands of them yet none were ever discovered after earthquakes or in preparations to build skyscrapers, water mains, subways, etc. Just doesn't seem plausible.

The question of "where are the heroes" belies the film's resolution. There are no heroes in the film! What does end up saving the planet? Well, they don't say specifically but it has to do with microscopic inhabitants of the planet - the germs in water, the organisms in the air, etc. The aliens go from winning, winning, winning to total destruction based - it seems - on the need to end the film. Nothing specifically happens. There is no counter-attack, no hero, no action. They just start dieing. The narrator at the end says that, after a billion deaths, humans have "earned" their right to live on Earth. But that is bullshit! We didn't earn our right to the planet because we can breath the air and drink the water! That is passive. It is a result of evolution. We didn't do anything - and neither did the main character in the film.

So why was he the main character? Why follow this guy around the whole film? He didn't save Earth. He didn't do anything on the scale which main characters normally act to deserve their role as main characters. Having said all that, there is something to be said for the same-old story of Earth's destruction told through the eyes of a regular person, someone who is regular at the beginning, middle and end of the film. We are used to experiencing these stories through heroes (whether they start heroic or not doesn't matter) but I can't think of any other film in this genre told through a similarly banal point of view. This is the redeeming part of the film. Through this plain character, we can see how most of us would act - not in saving the world but in merely trying to protect our families.