Micro-reviews: War of the Worlds and Black Hole
by Doc on Jun.19, 2006, under Movies
So, I finally got some time and sat and watched two movies: The Cruise/Spielberg War of the Worlds, and the SCI FI Channel’s Black Hole. Here are a couple of micro-reviews (no scores, no in-depth, but impressions) – feel free to add your own.
First: War of the Worlds
OK, so the protagonist, played by Cruise, isn’t a scientist. He’s a dock worker. And he has the most AMAZING luck. Not only does he survive as EVERYONE around him goes “pfffffft”, but does so for no particular reason other than he’s Tom Cruise.
I kept expecting to find out that he was once some sort of scientist and was going to come up with ideas – he always seemed on the brink of understanding – but it never materialized. Instead, all we are treated with is him running away. Constantly.
And the aliens in the barn – the humans are literally in plain sight – and they don’t see them. And they almost acted like they were kids who’s parents let them out of the RV at a rest area to run around and play for a bit.
As for Black Hole…hey, a science fiction movie on the Science Fiction Channel – what a novel idea! At least I thought so from the previews…black hole in St. Louis…using a nuke…seemed like it had the potential to have science involved…but this is the Science Fiction Channel. It needed a monster.
Yup…we end up with some “energy creature” that sucks electricity from power lines, and is somehow “quantum linked” to the black hole. And the requisite “blacklisted scientist who predicted it would happen while fighting his own demons and gets to say I Told You So” comes up with solutions out of thin air. And I felt like I could have played the character better than the star, Judd Nelson, who was too unbelievable as a theoretical physicist, at least to me.
Pretty much everything was predictable and unexciting. The wrestling may be more interesting.