The Classic Sci-Fi Tale Reimagined in a Modern Context
On the evening of October 30, 1938, an announcer on the CBS Radio Network delivered a shocking announcement that aliens had invaded Earth. For the next 40 minutes, the radio program The Mercury Theater on Air presented news bulletins detailing the alien invasion in real time. This was not a real event but a clever and innovative adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, which caused panic among listeners who thought it was real. The broadcast was created by Orson Welles, who later apologized for the confusion. He went on to make Citizen Kane, one of the most influential films ever made.
A New Take on a Timeless Story
Rich Lee, who makes his feature film debut with War of the Worlds on Prime Video, brings a fresh perspective to this classic sci-fi tale. While he may not be Orson Welles, Lee’s version is an interesting and somewhat brave take on the story. The film has been adapted before, notably in 1953 and 2005, but this new version features Ice Cube as William Radford, a high-level government surveillance operative and grieving widower. He micromanages his children from his computer, which has access to the entire U.S. government’s surveillance technology. His friend, NASA scientist Sandra Salas (Eva Longoria), keeps in constant communication as the aliens invade.
A Modern Approach to Storytelling
This version of War of the Worlds feels like a spiritual homage to Welles’ original radio drama. It uses the screenlife style of filmmaking, pioneered by Timur Bekmambetov, where the story is told through computer, tablet, or smartphone screens. The film is told entirely from the perspective of CCTV cameras, dash cams, Zoom calls, video calls, and computer desktops. This modern approach to storytelling resonates in a post-COVID world filled with smart devices.
Updating the Alien Motivation
While the general plot remains the same, this version updates the aliens’ motivation by turning them into data-hungry lifeforms. The U.S. government has been accumulating legally suspect surveillance data using a program called Goliath, creating a massive database that attracts the aliens. Director Rich Lee stitches together a coherent story using video calls, news footage with added CGI aliens, and drone POV shots. The fast-paced narrative takes advantage of the audience’s familiarity with modern technology.
Realism and Irony in the Story
There’s a semblance of realism in the storytelling, with touches like William’s attachment to his late wife’s Facebook profile. Zoom calls, video chats, group chats, YouTube videos, and CCTV footage are all familiar elements that remind us how much we take our data for granted. In one ironic twist, Faith’s baby daddy, Mark (Devon Bostick), is an Amazon deliveryman. Despite Faith being a doctor and biological sciences genius, the film features one of the biggest data collecting entities in the world.
Amazon’s Overt Product Placement
Amazon’s product placement is so overt it’s almost ribald. Mark is seen in an Amazon-branded shirt driving around in his delivery truck, and there’s a sequence dedicated to him making a real-time delivery using an Amazon delivery drone. The film even includes a scene where the drone gets knocked off course, and the good guys need help from a homeless person. Radford is able to find him, get his phone number, and bribe him with a year’s worth of free Internet, which he turns down. Instead, Mark sends over a $1000 Amazon gift card, showing that it’s better to hand over your data to Jeff Bezos than the U.S. government.
A Unique Resolution
The film has an interesting, if convenient, twist on the resolution of the invasion. In the book and most adaptations, the aliens succumb to pathogens that humanity has acclimated to. This version uses the help of scientist Faith and her computer genius brother David (Henry Hunter Hall). The screenlife approach means that the film’s stars almost never interact in person, and the only time audiences see the family together is with a few pictures at the end of the film.
A Meta Commentary on Connection
War of the Worlds feels very much like a low-budget project cobbled together during the pandemic lockdown, making it a meta commentary on how connected we all are despite being so disconnected. It’s a fresh and sometimes unintentionally hilarious take on Wells’ classic that seems to be unaware of its own ironies.
