WARNING: SPOILERS!!! Yes, I don\'t know how to use spoiler tags...
Disappointing movie, with far too many plot and logic holes to be forgiven.
What irked me:
[spoiler]
1) All the death rays seemed to expertly dodge Cruise.
2) Dakota Fanning seemed out of place. She kept switching from being too calm and too panicked, often during the wrong moments. Her performance in "Man on Fire" was much, much better.
3) The stupidity of this supremely intelligent alien race was out of this world. According to Freeman\'s introduction, these aliens carefully and patiently studied Earth and its denizens, the way a human might "study the organisms in a drop of water under a microscope." Just as we send probes to Mars to sample its atmospheric conditions for gas and water, these aliens must have done the same, especially if they had already visited the planet to plant their war machines. They HAVE to have known the biology of our planet and MUST have taken the necessary precautions if Earth\'s natural conditions were fatal to them. When humans go to war that might involve drastically different biological or chemical environments, they do not march in without any protective gear, such as masks or suits. I can\'t fathom why a vastly superior species would leave that out of its preparations for war. This could be overlooked if it only played a minor role in the movie, but as it stands, the salvation of the entire planet hinges on this logical loophole. I understand that this is how the book ends, but I would have much preferred it if they had updated the conclusion for modern scienfic expectations. Hell, I would even have liked it if the the movie ended with success for the aliens, but with its course filled with dramtic interpretation, such as perhaps a suicidal final attack by the separate or combined armies of Europe, Asia, and the US.
4) That scene with the tentacle probing Oglivy\'s house also reeked of a lapse in logic. You know, if it\'s dark and you have doubts as to whether the coast is clear, there are these things called infrared, night vision, and even X-ray scanning. If WE have this technology, there is no reason why an alien race would not have the same or vastly improved versions of them.
5) The son should have died. It\'s also ridiculous how all of Ray\'s family survives in the end. When Ray and Rachel finally arrive their home in Boston, Rachel\'s grandparents and PREGNANT mother are without a scratch. My mother remarked that it almost seemed like they were welcoming them for a Thanksgiving dinner.
6) The movie seemed too small in scope. It\'s a planetary invasion, yet we are confined to the perspective of one man. I liked that unique take to some degree, but it did make the movie feel a bit small for its subject matter. The fact that the war only seemed to last about a week, at most, was also irritating. [/end spoiler]
The few facts that I liked...
[spoiler]
1) We\'re never spoonfed details about the aliens, such as their motives behind the invasion, the cause of the "reverse storms" in the beginning, or the identity of those intestine-resembling blood plants. How would we know? Even the status of the resistance is only handed to us through small and vague trickles, such as when we learn offhandedly through Tim Robbins that the Japanese have perhaps taken down one of the Tripods. Some of the few realistic aspects of the movie.
2) The whole sequence leading up to and after the Tripod\'s first attack was an adrenaline rush.
[/end spoiler]
Obviously the bad outweigh the good...
