Movie Review 2

INDEPENDENCE DAY vs WAR OF THE WORLDS

The problem with War Of The Worlds (WOTW) and I suppose with Steven Spielberg was that Independence Day (ID4) preceeds it 9 years ago. I can understand the frustration (if any) for Mr.Spielberg. The storyline for both movie bears uncanny resemblance though it must be mentioned that WOTW is a remake and was written by a famous author. So ultimately the question would be; which of the two is better? I am sure Mr.Spielberg wanted to create WOTW with more or less the same effects as ID4 but couldn't because well...ID4 already exist and it would be foolish to follow the same route. ID4 had the mother of all err..mothership, the graphic and destructive invasion of earth, the aliens, dogfights, catfights AND most important of all, heroes. Spielberg can't re-create the same. He needed new directions. So he went for a more human touch and responses minus elaborate effects of destructions and battles. It's not that WOTW doesn't have its own heroes and special effects but the end of WOTW was very subdued. And very brief while we are at that! You wouldn't jump for joy when the invaders are finally defeated. ID4 had that. From the President's speech to the pilots before the ultimate showdown to the eventual destruction of the aliens, you could have joined in the celebration when you first watched ID4. OK, so the ending was a bit dodgy. Debated till this day was how the earth's computer OS (a Mac in this instance) is compatible with the aliens. Well, without spoiling it for those who haven't watched WOTW, the end of WOTW aren't that convincing either if I may say the least.

It must be said that at the present day, special effects doesn't surprise the viewers any longer. It won't have the same effect as when the first Star Wars came out nor when the liquid terminator made his appearance in Terminator 2 nor when the first dinosaur appeared in Jurassic Park and even to a certain extent, when the err..mother of all mothership appeared in ID4. Mr.Spielberg perhaps realized this and that was why the only alien craft you will see in WOTW is the err..tripods. So, is WOTW a complete failure and unwatchable? Not necessarily despite the absence of a plot. It has its own highlights (especially the basement scenes), irritating teenager and err..aliens who likes to snoop at people's stuffs. But this is definitely not a classic Spielberg film eventhough Tom Cruise gave one of his best performance. Dakota Fanning was excellent too.

Rating : ***

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
This is the fun movie of the summer! Staying with science fiction, this have all the makings of a perfect comedy. A homeless man, intelligent dolphins, a "kidnapped" president of the galaxy, damsel in distress, talking mice and perhaps the funniest of all characters, a suicidal depressive robot. Lots of British humour and since the demise of the Monty Python series, I guess this is the next best thing.
Another reason to watch this movie is Zooey Deschanel, a relatively unknown actress. OK, so John Malkovich is also in the film but Zooey, to me, is a breath of fresh air.

Rating : ****