Indeed, two of the most awful scenes involve people fighting each other. No, says Dad, this "came from someplace else." Rob tries again: "What do you mean, like Europe?" This brief comedy only sharpens the scares that follow, not all caused by aliens. If the first part of the film offers an absorbingly detailed look at the family's dysfunction, the ride in the minivan tightens the focus, as they struggle to make sense of the disaster unfolding around them. This collapse is especially disappointing because War of the Worlds begins as a provocative look at how terror affects family and community, that is, something more complicated than an explosion movie. Gangbusters effects and terrific camerawork propel Steven Spielberg's film well into its last act, when it runs out of energy and ideas. In part, this focus is achieved by Ray's quick thinking - he steals the only working vehicle in sight, determined to drive the kids to their mother in Boston, imagining against odds that this end will provide safety. What comes next is a prolonged look at unthinkable devastation, framed by one family's reactions. It's the watching that dooms them initially: they can't anticipate that the machines will, seconds later, be detonating buildings and zapping human targets into a dust that recalls the white detritus that clung to survivors of the 9/11 attacks in NYC. But the domestic strife soon takes a backseat to the gargantuan trauma brought on by an alien invasion - lightning strikes awaken towering Tripods, machines on long spider legs that push up from under the streets of Bayonne, NJ, the pavement buckling and cracking as people, including Ray, watch in astonishment. A brief game of backyard catch reveals immediately that Robbie resents his dad's absence and selfishness. WAR OF THE WORLDS stars Tom Cruise as Ray, a disheartened, divorced father, taking care of his two children - 10-year-old Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and 15-ish brother Robbie (Justin Chatwin) - for the weekend.
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