6.29.2005

War of the Worlds


Saw War of the Worlds and all I can say is WOW! Not a really good WOW however. Now, I didn't hate it, but there were some things I hated in it.

These are some of the dumbest people alive. I realize that in all these types of movies they are littered with idiots, but the main group of characters generally aren't all morons. And none of them are likeable. There is no emotional attachment to any of them. Its just a bunch of stupid people running around getting themselves into ridiculous situations. Of course there are going to be many situations where the main characters narrowly escape death through some incredibly random or rare occurrence, but the situations in this movie (yes, I know its a movie about space aliens) come off as forced and bizarre. It never seemed that Tom Cruise or his children did what any normal person would do when faced with a giant alien killing machine blowing up everything in its path.
I really am just disappointed in Senior Spielbergo. I expected a little more out of him than what I saw on the screen. I had hoped he would expand the genre in some way and add some nuance to the movie, but none of my hopes came true. Heck, I at least expected it to be pretty. A Januz Kaminsky film is usually a visual treat (at least AI is aesthetically pleasing), but WOTW is just kind of blah.
Overall, I am just disapointed with the movie and I feel let down.

3 comments:

Bryan Goggins said...

Neville, I disagree about the cinematography. It was appropriate for the story they were telling. Why would you expect a movie about martians invading the earth to look "pretty"? Name any of the Spieberg - Kaminzki film that looks pretty? Minority Report certainly didn't neither did Saving Private Ryan. It's not a matter of whether or not a film looks pretty, it's whether or not the cinematography serves the story the filmmaker is trying to tell. The cinematography for War of the Worlds was the right look, therefore I could care less if the cinematography isn't eye popping.

Kevin said...

BS, AI looks pretty, Minority Report looks pretty, Catch Me If You Can looks pretty. Whether it fits the film does not change if it is pretty or not. All of those movies were pretty in their own way.

Bryan Goggins said...

Minority Report is not pretty, it's well shot, but it's a pretty gloomy looking film. It's not the job of the cinematographer to make the film look pretty, but to first and foremost serve the story. There many good films that have "poor cinematography" and there are many bad films that have "beautiful" cinematography, therefore your point on whether a film looks pretty or not is not valid. Not all movies are supposed to look pretty. All that matters is whether or not the visuals serve the story, not vice versa.