6/29: War of the Worlds

The Story: This one centers on one man (Tom Cruise) who is fairly disconnected from his son and daughter. While spending time with them, aliens happen to execute an invasion plan they've had in the works for a long, long time. Kinda kicks the paternal instinct in when you know your kids are in danger from bad-ass ETs, doesn't it? The aliens attack, and all sorts of chaos ensues.

The Good: Steven Spielberg returns full-force to aliens for the first time since E.T. Between that and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, there's no question he knows what he is doing. It's written by David Koepp, who I think it's safe to say is one of the most successful writers working in Hollywood - Jurassic Park, Panic Room, Spider-Man, Mission: Impossible... he's done all right for himself. It's also been reported that Koepp had a list of things that could not appear in the movie, because they're just too cliched (unnecessarily brutal assaults on New York City, world capitals being attacked, etc), so something original had to be thought of to keep this one moving. Plus the trailers just look like all kinds of fun, with some awe-inspiring destruction. And Dakota Fanning may be the best 10 year old actor around. Like scary-good.

The Bad: Rumors of Cruise's and Katie Holmes relationship being staged have worked their way towards overshadowing this movie and Batman Begins, neither of which need the extra help. Also, I can understand people who might be getting sick of Cruise. He's gotten to the point of playing a caricature of himself unless he's given something good and new to work with (see Collateral).

The Verdict: Unabashed fun. I'm there as soon as I can be. Spielberg dealing with aliens and war in the same film? Who can argue?

My Guess: * * * 3/4