War of the Worlds

I caught this movie by chance. I can hear you asking how can I catch a movie by chance already. Well, yesterday night I met up with Charles, Chia Kiat and Bryan. We walked all the way to Chevrons to sing karoke but they barred us from entering because of our attire! Anyway, we stoned for awhile before deciding to go to JEC to watch War of the Worlds.

We went to Long John Silvers. Charles had his dinner there and I couldn't resist temptation so I bought a chocolate pie there. It was sinful. But I don't think one small desert like that could possibly make all the crunches I did this week redundant! By the way, my bunkmates and I are busy training nowadays because of the freetime and lack of PT we have. Oh well. The bloody thing tasted great.

We caught the 2130 show. When I watched the movie, I didn't know what to expect. I was totally uninterested in it and I knew it was something sci-fi and that it didn't really appeal to me. I've watched Artificial Intelligence, which is also by the same director. That was a pretty good film although I wasn't enthused on seeing it either. That was the attitude that I went to see the movie with.

However, starring a heavyweight actor like Tom Cruise makes a difference to this movie. The storyline was a bit difficult for me to handle at the beginning, because I didn't know where the plot was headed. Tom Cruise made the whole thing more watchable and I've got to say he isn't just a handsome face - the man can act. Child actress Dakota Fanning, who totally blew my mind with her character, fills the movie with her high-pitched screams. The look in her eyes everytime the aliens come was enough to freak me out real bad.

In case you didn't know, this is basically an adventure movie with Ray (Tom Cruise) trying to survive the attack of the aliens. There's plenty of escaping ( tyco! ) and hiding in dark corners. The thing is, you know they won't die, so that does take away some of the suspense. However, they are caught in the most dangerous situations at times that you can't help but feel the pain and fear that the characters are going through. Also, the ugly side of humans is portrayed when everyone is trying to hold on to their dear life so much that they are willing to exchange someone else's life for theirs. It is not a mere flick - it's so emotionally charged that you find yourself totally absorbed into the story. Also, the special effects are out of this world. But that is to be expected anyway. It's directed by Steven Spielberg.



Now, for a short bit on Tom Cruise. The actor has been doing promotion for the movie around the world recently and has been acting the clown too! With his antics on Oprah and other talkshows, as well as his recent engagement to Katie Holmes, media attention on him has reached an all time high. He's concentrating on plugging the movie, but a lot has happened in his personal life and his behavior was cause for distress for some.

I think that he's got the right to do whatever he does and personally, I've become a fan after the Collateral, in which he plays a hardcore killer. That performance was intense.

Tom beats Brad Pitt hands down, any day.