War of the Worlds: The Attack

Well, imagine my surprising stumbling upon this 2023 movie titled "War of the Worlds: The Attack" and never having heard about it. And while I am not overly much of a sci-fi buff, of course I've seen the 1953 movie "The War of the Worlds" and also the 2005 remake with Tom Cruise. And the concept idea behind this H. G. Well story is interesting, and thus I opted to sit down and watch "War of the Worlds: The Attack" as well.

Writers Junaid Syed and Tom Jolliffe based their 2023 movie on the H. G. Wells story, of course, but they opted to do their own take on it. Was it good? No, not really. Why? Because, "War of the Worlds: The Attack" was not an entertaining movie, and it was essentially just a pointless and redudant remake that I suppose no one has been asking for or craving for.

Sure, I managed to sit through all 85 minutes of the ordeal, only to see if there was anything worthwhile watching in the narrative. There wasn't, I can tell you that. While there are elements of the original story in "War of the Worlds: The Attack", then this was mostly a drama following three teenagers during the brief time of the invasion of the Martians.

Visually then I will say that the special effects were adequate. I mean, I weren't impressed, nor were I laughing either. It wasn't top pier special effects and CGI, I will say that, but the effects functioned well enough as intended.

I doubt even the fans of the H. G. Wells story will find much to cheer about in director Junaid Syed's 2023 attempt to reinvent the classic sci-fi tale.

My rating of "War of the Worlds: The Attack" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars.

This is the worst adaptation of war of the world. The acting was atrocious. Wooden and so cringe. The actors literally reading the script like a rehearsal. Non of the characters were believable , from the police officer to the army guy. Very amateurish. I couldn't stand the accents. The 3 kids were suppose to be university students but were so immature they acted as if they were in primary school. Nobody was remotely likeable. My brain couldn't take anymore after 15 minutes. This was the most boring film I have watched in awhile. Whatever possessed the directors to make the film is beyond me. I do not recommend if you want to keep your sanity.

Picture this, a soldier and three civilian survivors are hiding in the woods, claiming to be the only people left outside London, and everyone has evacuated. All desolate, alone, abandoned and scared. As we watch in the far background in the distance, there appears to be a motorway with loads of traffic as life in the real world is normal. Could they not have edited this? Very low-budget movie with a boring storyline and amateur acting. I think this is some high school project. This had loads of potential. As indicated in the trailer. But alas, probably one of the worst films ever. I don't recommend it.

No name actors, with a no name script. The only saving grace of this film is the fact that it keeps some of the elements of the original novel. The good, the beginning and ending of the movie is lifted almost directly from the original HG Wells novel, the Martians are depicted almost exactly like Wells describe them and the tripod walking machines are almost exactly as described in the 1898 novel.

The bad, most of the movie focuses on three youths and their typical teen angst. Most of the movie is simply the young characters simply traveling from place to place boringly, very boringly. There is nothing redeemable or captivating enough to make you connect with any of them in any way shape or form. You could have taken the first 15 minutes of the movie and the last 10 minutes of the movie and shoved them together in a 25 minute webisode and had a more enjoyable watching experience, for the hour in the center of a movie nothing happens except walking around and arguing.

Sticking close to the original novel was interesting, but the execution was sorely lacking, I've seen better high school productions.

My rating of three stars breaks down as follows, one star because you can't give any less, one star added for the look of the machines in the aliens matching the original novel, and one star added for keeping the beginning and ending of the novel intact, that's the best I can do.

Of all the incarnations of War Of The Worlds...this one is by far the worst.

The way the go from the Martian invaders wantonly killing everyone...to chilling in their house...or going on leisurely bicycle rides, generally unscathed...is patently ridiculous.

We find ourselves following three random kids, who-for some reason- are important enough to care about.

Even if that reason is not particularly clear.

Less it be that they are "the chosen ones", who need to be "saved" by an especially hypocritical, hardline, religious zealot (so he can repopulate the Earth with their female friend), or whatever.

The whole thing is about 90% childish drama, and 10% action...when it clearly needs to be the other way around.

Despite the fact that all the action is rendered with CGI (albeit, better than you might expect from a production of this caliber- think, akin to Monsters, or Nope, to get an idea).

The plot structure is absolutely horrible.

Because you get all this inane drama...followed by a ridiculous twist, that comes out of nowhere.

Used to abruptly wrap up story...without any explanation...or any attempt to connect it to the rest of the storyline.

Which doesn't make much sense.

Especially considering the aliens seem more mechanical than biological in nature.

Plus...for a film about the end of the world...there's never really any sense of urgency employed by any of the actors.

Who are really quite nonchalant about the whole ordeal.

So stuff happens.

Then it's suddenly over.

Without going into detail about any of the connecting factors...

It's just bad storytelling, overall.

And kind of stupid, to be honest.

So do yourself a favour, and just pass on this stinker.

Because it's simply not worth the time.

Unless you are looking to waste it.

2 out of 10.