Cruise Control (Spoiler-Free)

[filkertom]

So, I just saw War of the Worlds. Not bad, not bad at all. Pretty good, in fact. Cruise does just fine +2, Dakota Fanning is excellent, Tim Robbins the same, SFX staggering (heh heh heh), Spielberg has either a few new tricks or a few new syntheses of the old ones, and it's got some scenes and shots that'll stay with you.

Anyone else seen it, or plan to? Let's keep this relatively spoiler-free.

Comments

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

I was seriously worried about this until about two days ago. Since then the first reviews have started coming back, and they're pretty positive. I'm now less worried...and I'll probably be seeing it soon.

I suppose I was so wrapped up in worrying about Tom Cruise going insane that I forgot...it's Steven Spielberg. There's a reason his name is pretty much synonymous with "famous director."

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Besides, Cruise didn't go insane until post-production. ;)

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

The Martians must have sapped his sanity!

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I'm still never going to be able to take Cruise seriously (in a movie or anywhere) again, at least if I think about it... so hopefully any movies he's in will be engaging enough to make me forget what an asshat he is.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Oh, we'll see it.

There's a quote that keeps coming up on Sci Fi's promotional filler. Spielberg: "I love working with Tom Cruise. He's so...present as an actor."

Well, it's harder working with actors who aren't present...you have to shout, or maybe send them postcards...

[smoooom.livejournal.com]

So Tom, it's worth seeing in the theater?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I would say so. I'm realizing that the biggest problem I have with it is that the characters are rather two-dimensional for the first fifteen, twenty minutes or so. They get better as things go to shit. And the spectacle -- along with the non-clarity of some of the SFX, which makes everything look that much more real -- really works on the big screen.