War of the Worlds - huh?

So I went to PVR (thats the mega multiplex place here) full of anticipation.. to catch, somewhat delayed though, the latest offering of Steven Spielberg - one of my favourite movie makers.

Fully armed with Pepsi and popcorn, I was ready for a grand offering.. and it did start off well.. going against all the Hollywood stereotypes.. the hero Cruise is just a regular dont-care loser, the aliens come from "UNDER" the earth, and our hero actually runs away from them - he has no intentions of "Saving the World". Really promising, I thought, things can only get better from here.

And visually, they did.. some spectacular special effects serve well to tell the story of the machines from outer space demolishing earth. And unlike what many many reviews are telling abt there being no 'human' touch.. there is lots of it.. but put in the context of the situation in the movie..

backtracking a bit : the story.. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a dockyard worker (believe it) who children Rachael (little girl) and Robbie (teenage guy) are left in his care by his former wife. And the children are not particularly happy with this arrangement. But then, they put up with him, what with him being 'dad'. The alien attack starts right away.. and Ray is left bearing the responsibility of keeping them safe.. using the only working car in the neighbourhood (how come no one else thought of it?) he flees to his former wifes' house.. Robbie is idealistic and wants to fight back.. Rachael is just plain frightened and Ray is at his wits end.. how this family escapes the terro and how their inter-relationship cahnges as they go on forms the crux of the story..

Cruise fits the bill as the small time American guy trying to save his family. Dakota Fanning (thats the kid) gives a powerhouse performance.. what all will she achieve when she grows up, I wonder!! Spielberg, I think, already had the next project on his mind when he was making this one..

The sudden climax left me feeling really bad.. does Spielberg think that the audience is stupid? Accepted - the brilliant "Minority Report" from the same team didn't fill the BO coffers but then the sudden and unbelievable ending of this one leaves a lot to be desired..

Overall : Spielberg has failed in only 2 movies (of the ones I have seen), one is AI coz of a too lengthy climax, the other is WotW coz of an abrupt one..

Score : 57 / 100