Book adaptations are very rewarding, unlike comics. Successful books always have good stories, good characters, and most importantly, if the books are very famous, they draw a lot of people to the cinema. A typical movie example is Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. 
It was after these successful films that Spielberg also chose to make a film based on a book - War of the Worlds. Admittedly, it is said that he had it ready to go a long time ago, but surely after the successful book adaptations, he thought it was really worth making something based on the book as well, and putting it mainly in cinemas.
Hence, he chose H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, in which aliens arrive on planet Earth and systematically wipe out all of humanity. The book is set in England at the turn of the 19th century and Spielberg adapted it to the early 21st century and America. Unlike other directors, Spielber has chosen a variation of the personal drama of one man who coincidentally gets caught up in this war, has no fault, has done nothing at all, merely watches the gradual destruction of the country, and sometimes is just very lucky to survive. He is a (possibly) divorced man who has been entrusted with two offspring for the weekend and he saves not only himself but his children as well. So it's not really an action movie, just a private drama of three people escaping the destruction of the world. Other directors would certainly have chosen more action-packed elements.
Spielberg and his creative workshop ILM, with 
cameraman Janusz Kaminski, and with gimmick guru Dennis Muren, they managed to make the film perfect, both gimmick-wise and story-wise, not only did Spielberg finally manage to coax the acting out of Tom Cruise, who has finally stopped being the kid from Top Gun, but his acting is starting to show, though I know a few better actors. But he managed to handle the drama of family and the drama of more than just his own life. After all, when it comes to offspring, it's all about the future, the genes and the next generation. Spielberg has also managed to handle child actress Dakota Fanning, who is gradually improving her acting. And he's already got a second famous movie. Her first famous movie was Man on Fire. It's said to be a girlish rendition of child actor Haley Joel Osment's equally acting quality. I hope she can keep it up for a long time, and that she can become a good actress even after puberty, like maybe Christine Ricci, who made the transition from child actress relatively successful. Dakota Fanning is the best actress in this film right after Cruise, her emotions are believable, even if she is more of a little screaming kid who isn't perfect, has enough of her flaws and enough of her mind. She's just a little girl, and that behavior is pretty much to be expected at her age,Cruise is a daddy who's son hates. The father of a now defunct family who still loves his offspring, yet still lives like a young man, in a fast paced apartment he is a car mechanic, but a pretty good father. I'm sure because he still doesn't feel like devoting himself to family duties, raising his children, being a caring husband, his wife has broken away from him and found a more reliable boyfriend. But the father and the children still see each other, have their weekends and try to fill them somehow, but they don't succeed at all. I got the sense from the film that he doesn't like those weekends very much, that he would definitely want to do other things than raise his offspring and watch their childish whims.
As I've written in previous paragraphs, War of the Worlds is about finding your way home, finding a good wife, and, most importantly, running away from evil aliens. In doing so, Cruise meets many people running away too, many kills. But also a failed effort to stop the alien visitors. He also meets one psychopath who wants to fight with only a rifle against the perfect alien protection, and who not only endangers himself by doing so, but them as well. He also threatens them in the presence of living aliens who have stepped out of the ships and are going through, and of course destroying, residential buildings in an attempt to find the last remnants of humanity. Spielberg, in his Sci-Fi film, has finally shown the visitors from other planets in all their living glory in long enough shots for us to see who is destroying our dear planet. He also meets many other people, journalists who tell him what's going on in the world, people who are capable of murdering for cars, and many others who, like him and his family, are haunted by Tripods - alien moving vehicles.
It's a good calculation on Spielberg's part to premiere films at the same time in most of the world. He's definitely one of the few directors who can afford to do that, because everyone expects his films, looks forward to them like a mercy killing. It definitely always happens, Spielberg has been making his moves lately and his dreams come true and people like it, like me. Although I admit I've only seen a couple of his better films, but I always look forward to his movies.
Original release of this article September 28, 2018 – Kritiky.cz
