War Of The Worlds

Steven Spielberg's remake of the sci-fi scare classic is no retro popcorn goof like INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996), predicated on spectacular but inconsequential destruction and the underlying conviction that after the slimy extraterrestrials have done their worst, good old American ingenuity will put the smackdown on them. It unfolds in the angst-haunted shadow of the 9/11 terror attacks and teeters on a thin edge of sheer panic — the carnage is no gleeful game and the devastation is so overwhelming that human defenses crumble like sand. Divorced, blue-collar dad Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) takes weekend custody of his two kids — 10-year-old cutie Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and ...