Harry's Movie Review

War of the Worlds drops you into Will Radford's world quickly. He's a Homeland Security analyst who monitors threats through mass surveillance, and when something unknown attacks, his job gets a lot more complicated. Director Rich Lee keeps things moving, and the premise has teeth. It's the kind of film that doesn't apologize for what it is.

Ice Cube anchors the film with a performance that sits somewhere between skepticism and determination. He doesn't telegraph every thought or lean into Hollywood heroics. The supporting cast, including Eva Longoria and Clark Gregg, fills out the world without getting lost in it. What works is that these characters react like people might actually react to an impossible situation, not like they're waiting for their big emotional beat.

Lee directs with efficiency. Scenes move forward. There's a thriller's logic underneath everything, and the pacing respects that. The film does stumble slightly when it leans too hard on exposition late in the game. A few explanatory scenes feel like they're checking boxes rather than letting the story breathe on its own.

What stuck with me was how the film treats the surveillance angle. It's not making grand statements about government overreach. Instead, it simply asks whether knowing everything actually helps you understand anything. The ending doesn't wrap things in false comfort either. That kind of restraint is rarer than it should be.