Steven Spielberg’s complex, atypical 2005 blockbuster. Now, however, Ice Cube has made a “War of the Worlds” movie, which in and of itself should have induced just as wide a panic as Welles’ unconventional radio broadcast. Instead, it seems viewers can’t get enough of this film, which has otherwise dismayed critics across the board.
The movie stars Ice Cube as Homeland Security terror analyst and surveillance wiz Will Radford, a man who apparently has far too much time on his hands as he spends most of his shift surveilling his own children and chastising them for playing video games and not eating as healthily as he’d like. Soon, however, the alien invasion begins, which, instead of witnessing in all the 4K glory that a modern-day adaptation can offer, we see via lo-res clips taken by everyday citizens pointing their phones at the ongoing carnage.
Yes, the 2025 “War of the Worlds” all plays out on Ice Cube’s desktop computer (the film was shot during the pandemic) à la 2018’s “Searching,” which also unfolded entirely on computer screens and was a genuine thrill to watch. Even the sequel, “Missing,” was a messier but no less thrilling follow-up. “War of the Worlds,” however, has been anything but — at least according to critics. At least Prime Video viewers appear to be loving it.
