Bad luck Wells. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon, when just beginning the concert interrupted the sudden report of flares on Mars, some famous astronomer, I think from Princeton, said that Mars is an uninhabitable planet, there is no life. The concert resumed, but was soon interrupted again. The siren sounded, the radio host, obviously worried, was talking about the cylinder, the combat vehicle, the professor said something about the lethality of the weapon, that the beam incinerates everything around, parts of the National Guard were called into place, the enemy uses poison gases, our planes destroy the beam ... panic swept us all.
Then, in 1939, the production of the novel by H.G. Wells, ended in flight, barricades, traffic jams, as well as the mobilization of the guards and self-defense forces. Now, 80 years later, the reaction is more restrained – a dozen angry reviews and passages about the ruined classic... as if someone remembered it at all.
No, the truth is strange that in 2019 suddenly remembered how the genre of alien invaders began. At once two British studios, with a small interval, present their adaptations to the court of poor Wells, who somehow throughout the history is not lucky with film adaptations. However, there is a certain continuity in this: after all, 14 years ago, we were also eager to please with two films about the invaders at once, with one transferring the event to the present, while the other tried to show the classical story in the entourage of the late XIX century. 14 years ago, Spielberg managed (in my highly subjective opinion) to make a better adaptation of Wells, and Hines (his competitor in 2005) managed to juicily sink into history. Now it's BBS and AGS' turn to show who's in charge of the plates. You get it, right? The main of the alien plates.
At one time, Spielberg did everything right - moving the time and place of action, he was able to put the budget where it should be invested in a film about aliens - graphics, staging, picture. In the end, if you need a deep story please – “Contact”, “Arrival”. The story of the Ferriers came out simple, convincing, catchy, there are no existential reflections on the essence of being and life, but there are father and child trying to survive.
BBS complicated the task by deciding to show us Victorian (or post Victorian) England, which immediately hit the purse, which, presumably, did not ring too loud before. Probably, the creators themselves perfectly understood that they had to get out, and in addition, they clearly had a desire to bring something of their own to the story of Wells, which, admittedly, in the plot plan has a number of features. I must say that for the author of the work, it was important to show exactly the invasion and how it happens, while we, as it were, observe this invasion ourselves, although formally the narrative is conducted on behalf of the hero. Whether Wells wanted it or not, but he managed to make the reader a participant in the events, it is clear that in the film adaptation to go this way will not work. Hence the story of George and Amy, who is extremely weak in their attempts to keep the audience’s attention. We tried to show the depth of these characters, with an emphasis on the difficult fate, but the features that presented the series are useless, they lead to nothing and only drag the timing. Yes, there is a conflict between two brothers; there is a message about an older brother who is trying to take care of the younger; there is a politician who thinks about profit even in the moment of a catastrophe; there is a child who has lost everything and is eager for care; there is even a conflict between science and the church that is designed to show the degree of strength of humanity; but everything I listed has almost no role. Stories of the dummy, which are set poorly and only stretch the 3-hour timekeeping.
For three series of actual actions, we will score only 30-40 minutes, the rest is an attempt at free adaptation. All this is clear and justified: there is a grand plan, but the grandeur of the budget does not smell. But this is understandable and justified only on the one hand, on the other hand, it is enough to recall such films as Mgla, Langoliers, where the dynamics and interest were not kept in bottomless pockets. BBS tried to show something strong and grandiose, but it came out fresh and boring. Making the center of the story of the event 6-7 years later, the creators wanted to raise a number of questions and show curious, from their point of view, the consequences of the invasion, but this fresh look was poorly spelled out, and too old for 2019.
BBS’s “War of the Worlds” turned out to be an extremely fresh and problematic picture. And the problem is not only in the design, as many have noted (although the appearance of Martians raises a number of questions), not only in the “scarce special effects”. The problem is that BBS stumbled on almost everything - a weak story, a strange pitch, poor visuals and as a result - boredom, mortal boredom in the 3-series series about the alien invasion ... no, it had to be managed of course. However, what to wonder - Wells is often not lucky on the film adaptation.
5 out of 10