War of the Worlds: The Attack (2024) - A Low-Budget Martian Invasion

Modern-day Britain. Three astronomer friends investigate a meteorite that has landed nearby. Bypassing the barriers and approaching the massive object, the friends realize they are facing an alien visitor. Soon, England becomes a battlefield where Martian aggressors clash with the regular army forces attempting to repel the alien threat.

Sam Gittins in a still from “War of the Worlds: The Attack”

The legacy of science fiction writer H.G. Wells continues to resonate on screen. Science fiction, infused with modernist ideas and the anticipation of progress, and sometimes filled with apocalyptic visions, has found a home in classic cinema and, less frequently, in modern films. Aside from numerous television series based on Wells’ works (“The First Men in the Moon”) or unnecessary horror incarnations for the big screen (“The Invisible Man” by Leigh Whannell), Steven Spielberg’s large-scale adaptation of “War of the Worlds” in 2005 was perhaps the last to approach the material with genuine skill. Tom Cruise, playing an ordinary crane operator, watched as malevolent aliens succumbed to Earth’s ecosystem and perished, barely completing their mission to enslave humanity. It seemed like that should have been the end of it, but occasional bursts of enthusiasm from niche filmmakers have occurred. Junaid Syed’s “War of the Worlds” is a fresh attempt to tell the same story and unleash three-legged Martians on metropolises, but this time without Hollywood support or any semblance of creative self-discipline. British filmmakers decided not to burden themselves with big budgets or quality standards, so they simply armed themselves with basic 3D graphics, cast lesser-known actors, and focused on the legacy of Wells’ novel, which can now be easily rehashed. The team behind the current film has truly outdone themselves: even Ed Wood, who single-handedly created trash science fiction in the late 1950s, never witnessed such naiveté.

Lara Lemon as Hannah in a still from “War of the Worlds: The Attack”

A New Low for Alien Invasion Films

It’s easy to recall examples of bad modern science fiction—a special category of films about alien visitors that blow all the fuses in the already thoroughly tested “terrible blockbuster” category. These include “Skyline” (which, believe it or not, has a whole trilogy), “Battle: Los Angeles,” and the rambunctious mashup “Cowboys & Aliens.” The new “War of the Worlds” sets a new standard of unbearableness: instead of quality special effects, we get graphic fractals over drawn-out views of the Tower; instead of acting, we get careless amateur attempts; and instead of a tense battle for the British Isles, we get dreary runs through forests and streets, over which towering Martians loom. The Martians’ design, by the way, is entirely copied from Spielberg’s blockbuster—proof that inventiveness hasn’t leaped forward in nearly 20 years. And the references the creators choose are, to put it mildly, the most obvious: a trio of astronomer friends rides their bikes at night, replicating practically any scene from “Stranger Things.”

A still from “War of the Worlds: The Attack”

Torturing the Audience

The new “War of the Worlds” torments the viewer without mercy, self-sacrificingly: first with the dim-witted humor of the astronomy students, with whom we are forced to spend an hour and a half; then with the appearance of a soldier—amid bitter lamentations about comrades who died from alien lasers; and finally—with a crazed priest who believes the arrival of the Martians is punishment for human sins. By the way, the priest is played by the only somewhat well-known actor—the distinctive Vincent Regan, known for his role in “300.”

However, Junaid Syed’s film could have looked significantly more lively and decent if more money had been invested, if the atmosphere of the novel had been carefully recreated, and if a way had been found to connect the modern era with Victorian England. It’s possible that the enthusiasts didn’t need this, and they were more likely clowning around and deliberately creating a “bad good movie” akin to the much-suffering “Sharknado.” Sometimes it’s indeed better not to bother and roll the novel into rolls of graphic mess: rotor-winged Valkyries strike at alien aggressors against a backdrop of terribly bad scenery.

The next morning, however, everyone will understand one simple thing, once described by Wells: bacteria, earth, water, and even the smell of sweat (as one of the characters unsuccessfully jokes) will kill the Martians faster than humanity can unsheathe its weapons. The British incarnation of “War of the Worlds” is an unbearable exercise in homemade filmmaking that fails to offer even one convincing reason why, for example, one should focus attention on the new version, abandoning Spielberg’s blockbuster to the glorious past.