War of the Worlds (2005)

This film has been one of the most confusing things to watch. That is coming from someone who also watched Arrival and for the longest time had no clue what was going on but at least with that there came a moment of realisation and up until then there was still a rough narrative to follow. However War of the Worlds was so fucking confusing and the story was so minimal that it made the overall film just seem bad. And I say that as lightly as I possibly can. The best part about it was the aliens and the lore around them was confusing enough that it would have come across stronger had the characters had more depth or at the very least an arc. Both of which do not happen or if they do it happens in such a minor way it might as well not be there.

First, the movie opens to a number of scenes which allow us to see the family dynamic of our main characters. Mainly highlighting Ray as this deadbeat dad who cares minimally about his kids while their mom and step dad remain the embodiment of parental care. A dynamic that I am all too familiar with in apocalyptic style movies so I was interested to not only learn about these aliens that would invade but also watch as the dad takes on an arc of his own in the face of danger where he realises he actually really cares about his kids and needs to do better. Wouldn't that have been nice to see? Yeah well too bad it never fucking happens! Now when I talk about Ray as a deadbeat I understand he has moments when he does his best to help his children and isn't as harsh on them as he could be such as when his son steals his car and he is more concerned about the son being safe than the car itself. Minor detail that show he does want his children alive but he doesn't always want the responsibility that comes with them like ensuring they are always fed as shown when he makes his 9 year old daughter figure out dinner for herself while he takes a nap. The issue comes when he does nothing to step up his game into being an active father rather than a surviving one. Rob himself says he knows the only reason they are trying to reach Boston is so that Ray can dump the kids with their mom and leave again which made me think there would come a time when that sentiment is brought up again and he would admit that is why he started moving to Boston but not why he's is continuing. I was fully expecting a harsh moment when he had to make a choice between Boston or somewhere else and he chose the other option because it was safer for the kids even if that meant looking after them himself. Then despite how pissed the kids would be after a few days they would meet their mom anyway as if rewarding Ray and acknowledging he made the right choice and still got what he wanted making everyone happy.

But instead the closest we get to him 'taking responsibility' is when he independently takes care of Rachel. That in itself becomes a difficult choice for me to wrap my head around. Moments earlier Rob had tried to get the military to take him in so that he can help them fight the aliens, an action that really upsets his sister because they are so tightly bonded and especially so in comparison to her being left with their dad. So Rob apologies and the rest of the film continues to show how in dangerous situations Rachel would gravitate to Rob. A moment that in a way is heart breaking because she is always running to her brother for comfort over her own dad and he doesn't even seem to care much himself. I thought that alone would be a moment for Rob's character where he realises he is forced to grow up too soon in a way and despite how reckless he wants to be he can't because his sister relies on him more than their dad. A sad reality that could cause tension in the wider group but isn't addressed. And then moments later he makes a second attempt to run and join the military?! I thought he would at least stay for his sister but again he is young and maybe I misunderstood the character so sure. But then the dads response to that is to leave his daughter, and tackle his son to yell at him. The same thing he did the first time. If yelling didn't work the first time I don't know why it would have the second time but he just continues to pin him to the floor and yell. Am I the stupid one here because why are you not just dragging him! If I really didn't want my child entering an active war zone I would tackle his ass and drag him by the legs away. What's more when the woman came by and began dragging the daughter away he continued to just stay there yelling knowing fully well the situation he was in, but not yelling for the daughter but the son.

I understand the point they were trying to make with having this very difficult decision to make between his daughter and his son but to me it isn't even a valid fight. This is no show of his character expanding by allowing his son the freedom to watch the fight and possibly join the military if anything it screams even more so just how incompetent he is! The way I see it he had the decision to put his foot down and forcibly drag his son away from the fight, an action that while may have pissed Rob off more would have saved him further in the end which is the same sentiment as the one I was on about earlier. Instead he let him leave which to me proves how he wants the easier solution by having one less child to deal with. Not just that but Rob specifically was the sibling that caused the most issues and was the most combative with Ray's authority because he was older and understood how his dad didn't care deeply about them. Whereas Rachel is younger and quieter, she's the one that was the most open and accepting of her dad likely because they never understand the extend of what was happening because of how young she is which meant he would be able to move along more easily without arguments. So by having Rob leave and an explosion follow I thought okay finally, a moment where Ray made a decision to let his kid leave and they ended up dead. Now he would start to realise the error of his way and because more attentive. Did this happen? Barely! But does that matter? No! Because the end of the film just so happens to have Rob already at the house with his mom! So not only does Ray have no repercussions for allowing his son to fight this alien war alone but it proves how much stronger and smarter Rob is than his dad that he survived and got to Boston before them!

In terms of Rob and Rachel I could not believe how little 'chemistry' they had. There was no point even after Rob left that I thought they began to resemble a father and daughter duo. I am well aware this is a post apocalyptic world so the dynamics aren't going to be the most usual but there was never a moment that it seemed to click for me that there was a true shift in dynamics. The closest the dynamics became loving is when Ray covered Rachel's eyes and told her to sing while he killed the other guy staying with them in a way she wouldn't know. After which Rachel for the first time ever makes an effort to go over to her dad for comfort and hugs him, an action which to me seems more of a thankful hug for doing his best to keep them all alive than a I'm glad to have you moment. It just makes me feel like everything to do with the characters are so under developed they may as well not be there. Well everyone apart from the woman who tried to take Rachel, she was truly doing the most logical thing for the situation by saving a seemingly stranded child to get her help. A situation I'm beginning to believe could have given her a better outcome.

While in the basement we are introduced to some further lore on the aliens. To begin we found out that the devices that are taking over the world were always here, they existed underground and are only now being awoken. I loved this. It reminded me so much of Doctor Who having this race of aliens waiting buried deep underground for a moment to strike and take over the world. I also loved that they seemed to have this connection with the earth as shown by the red roots beginning to grow and take over the world as they conquer. It gives so many questions on how long they have been there hiding and why they were never found and why now specifically to attack. I also loved how there were aliens that emerged from the ocean because it showed that no place is ever truly safe. You would think because they look so electronic that water would be their weak point and then boom one emerged from the water fine as anything. However the questions I have about the way the aliens operate come from the ritual we saw where they aren't immediately killing people but storing them until the right moment where they kill someone and let their blood saturated the earth. That partnered with all the deep red vines I was so interested in because clearly the vines have some connection to the aliens and their sacrifice. They also all seem to share a hive mind like connection. After Ray exploded one machine, another had technical difficulties and the bottoms of the vines began to pale and decay into a chalk like substance. It was as if every alien and all the plants lived symbiotically and if you hurt one you hurt everything. Which is something I thought was super interesting but the question from that became why were they so connected to the earth?

I like the idea that after thousands of years hidden underground the roots merged into their ships and created this unknowing connection but truly that could just have easily been something they brought over. Expanding further on that I would have liked a moment where they realised that their plants were getting a strange disease and dying or even that the food was poisoned and killing people. But nothing is ever drawn from them. There was even a brief scene where we see the real bodies of the aliens outside of their huge ships where they are rummaging through abandoned belongings curiously. It could have been that they were ensuring everyone was dead but it looked more to me that they were curious of this world and wanted to learn more so I thought Rachel was going to make friends with them and it was going to end with realising the aliens were misunderstood. That also didn't happen. In which case why have the aliens appear in such a close up way as if it was hinting towards something just to not have that be revealed. Overall this whole movie just gave me numerous questions. It came across more that the director wanted to make a spooky alien invasion film which I would say they succeeded in. The craziness and world destruction was built in a way I thought was quite good but when making a film there needs to be more than a simple world building that is good, there needs to be a narrative structure that is followed which it just didn't have. For that reason I have to rate this film low, for the right person this may be more enjoyable but for me it doesn't make sense.