War of the Worlds (2025)
½ — War of the Worlds (2025)
H. G. Wells published The War of the Worlds in 1898, and in the more than a century since, the novel has been adapted, reimagined, updated and reworked so many times that it has practically become its own genre. The most famous screen version remains Steven Spielberg's 2005 blockbuster, but there have been radio plays, television series, and numerous lower-budget interpretations that have tried to find a fresh angle on the alien invasion premise. This 2025 production positions itself as a contemporary reworking, shifting the focus to mass surveillance and government secrecy, with the tagline "Your data is deadly" signalling an attempt to wire the story into anxieties about digital privacy and institutional trust. On paper, there is something potentially interesting in that premise, updating Wells's original themes of human helplessness in the face of a superior force and translating them into the language of data breaches and Homeland Security watch lists.
The film was directed by Rich Lee and produced through a partnership between Universal Pictures, Bazelevs, and Patrick Aiello Productions. At 91 minutes, it keeps things brief, which in the context of a science fiction thriller is either a virtue or a warning sign depending on what fills the running time. The production brought together a reasonably recognisable cast. Ice Cube, whose career stretches from the streets of Compton to some genuinely memorable screen work (if you want a reminder of how effective he can be, take a look at the site's reviews of Boyz n the Hood (1991) and Friday (1995)), takes the central role of Will Radford, a Homeland Security analyst drawn into a conspiracy that may reach far beyond any conventional threat. Eva Longoria and Clark Gregg are also on the call sheet, alongside Iman Benson and Henry Hunter Hall. On paper, it is a polished but unremarkable assembly of familiar faces, the sort of cast that suggests a production aiming for a solid streaming audience rather than any particular artistic ambition.
Science fiction thrillers of this kind live or die on whether they can make their world feel real and their stakes feel genuine. The genre has produced everything from the visionary to the thoroughly disposable, and the question with any new entry is always which direction it falls. For a sense of how the genre can be done with conviction and imagination, it is worth looking at the site's coverage of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), or the more lo-fi but committed Hardcore Henry (2015). With that context in mind, here is what this particular War of the Worlds actually delivers.
I don’t even know where to begin. This isn’t just a bad film, it’s a surreal, jaw-dropping collapse of everything cinema stands for. Shot entirely on green screen during what appears to be a series of Zoom calls in someone’s basement, this so-called “reimagining” of War of the Worlds starring Ice Cube as a retired marine turned conspiracy podcaster feels less like a movie and more like a viral marketing prank that somehow got a budget. And a Prime Video release. The visuals are laughable. Aliens descend on Earth in ships that look like spinning disco balls made in Microsoft Paint. Explosions unfold behind characters who never react in real time. Backgrounds flicker, lighting makes no sense, and the “action” consists of Ice Cube shouting into a webcam while stock footage of cities burning plays in a corner of the screen. Dialogue is delivered with the intensity of a man reading a PowerPoint presentation, and honestly, that might be exactly what happened. There’s no story, no stakes, no logic. Just conspiracy rants, forced product placement (yes, someone actually says “I’ll order more ammo on Prime”). Is it satire? Is it incompetence? Or is it some cynical, meta experiment in “so bad it’s good” content farming? Given it’s an Amazon Prime exclusive, my money’s on the last one, a deliberately shoddy production designed to trend, get mocked on TikTok, and rack up views through sheer disbelief. It’s not just the worst War of the Worlds adaptation. It might be one of the most baffling things ever released under the label of “film.” A 0.5-star disaster, not because it’s offensive or harmful, but because it feels like cinema giving up. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. And I pray I never will again.
I genuinely sat with this one for a while after watching, trying to work out whether I had missed something, whether there was a layer of self-awareness that excused the whole thing. There wasn't. What lingers isn't anger exactly, more a kind of exhausted bewilderment that something this shoddily assembled was considered ready for release. The surveillance angle, which could have given the film some genuine teeth, is buried under so much noise and so little craft that it barely registers. For me, the most frustrating part is the waste of a premise that actually had somewhere to go. Instead it goes nowhere, fast, and in the dark. Some films are bad in ways that teach you something. This one just makes you grateful for the good ones.
Rating: ½ | Year: 2025 | Watched: 2025-08-09
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for War of the Worlds (2025) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Physical: Amazon US
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