Actually, I'm fairly smitten by this movie, which surprised me, because I expected just the typical pile of safe Spielberg fluff. And granted, in the end, nobody's really dead, but unlike most of Spielberg's recent films, I found myself caring for and wishing well for the characters, and actually fearing for their demise. In AI, I found Osment whiney, and I found the storyline, while original, drug out. In Minority Report, I saw a lot of neat images, and a great philosophical debacle (albeit a bit cursory), but no real resolution.

In War of the Worlds, Spielberg returns to form. And I say that from the gut, not from the head. I knew how the movie would end, but given that he inserted new characters into the narrative, I had no idea whether they would live or die, and there were several occasions where I thought that built characters, that is, characters in a summer movie with an actual heart, might die.

That's what made Jaws great. What's Jaws. Jaws is the improbable. A shark that jumps out of the water and eats people. Ho-hum. Yeah, right. But Brody, Brody is a real man, a real character, as is Quint, as is Hooper, the city boy. They are all distinctive, as are the characters in War of the Worlds. You get the feeling that Spielberg wants to harp on the deadbeat single dad, a thematic element I find to be trite in a culture where anything that panders to females holds sway, but I found myself sympathetic. He showed the good side of the dad, the bad side of the dad, his characterization was fair, not biased, not Hollywood fake.

Dakota Fanning also really shows her stuff on the screen, she's good for her age. She could have been a Jake Lloyd and toasted this movie, and she pulled it off instead. That's really saying something, at her age. The effects were incredible, the peril was real, and the best part is, they were just a backdrop to a story, as they should be. There were several shots that literally, I could not figure out how they did it, and that's always a good thing when all of the secrets of film are laid bare for most with even half an eye open...for instance, the incredible rendering of the freeway, where the camera zooms all around the van. A simple shot, one most would miss, but nonetheless incredible to someone who can appreciate how complex and hard it is to actually make that a reality. I'm still scratching my head.

A real threat, a scary threat, this is a fine movie to scare the bejesus out of you. I knew how it would end, but I was still scared, and I haven't felt that way since, well, Jurassic Park.

The movie loses a half point for that god awful annoying son. The movie could have done without him. Yeah, he's a character too, but even if you were his dad, you'd kick him in the ass on the way to the alien fleet. Good god, what a emo kid. Shoot him! For what he was, he was done well, but I believe the movie would have been fine without him, and this is the movie's one flaw. But it does okay without him.

If it's not too late, catch this on the big screen. Most summer movies totally blow, and this one is a rare exception. I thought Spielberg had lost his touch, this movie goes to show that he can let loose and still have a good movie every now and again without the pretense of shooting for awards or credibility. This is what I love about Spielberg: the scary part of the human drama. Saving Private Ryan? Yes. Humans in agony at an incredible threat with character. AI? Futuristic tale of Pinocchio? Not so much.

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