Second Scoop

I'm going to write about War Of The Worlds again. It's not that I'm obsessed with it (that would be Star Wars). It's not even that bad, merely disappointing. It's just that I thought of a good example of what's wrong with the whole movie, and a lot of movies, that I didn't discuss yesterday. What this means is more spoilers ahead.

Anyone who writes screenplays knows how hard you work on logic. Once you've accepted a certain reality--even one where aliens are destroying the earth--you want a consistency in character and action. The trouble is it's very hard to say what will work and what won't. Worse, everyone has different ideas of what makes sense. But if you're smart and entertaining, and keep things moving, the audience will go along with you, even excusing flaws that may occur to them after the fact. (The Matrix has gaping holes, but was so slick no one cared.)

On the other hand, if there are moments that don't ring true, it's harder to enjoy the action, no matter how well done. Though sometimes I wonder, considering certain hits.

Let's look at a bravura sequence in WOTW. The aliens have started attacking. Everything with electricity has stopped. Tom Cruise gets his family into the only working vehicle around (it works because of some advice Cruise gave--I don't get it, but I'll give this one to the film) and drives like a maniac for miles and miles past thousands of stopped cars on the highway. Spielberg has an amazing continuous shot (obviously CGI) that moves in and around the car the whole way. And he tosses it off rather than draw attention to it--the scene concentrates on the worried Cruise and how he'll deal with his family in this mind-boggling situation--which only makes it better.

As exciting as this is, there are a few things that don't make sense, and they ruin the overall effect. First, Cruise insists his family get out of Hoboken (I think that's where they are) as soon as possible. Why? He's just seen his section of the city pulverized and the aliens move on. Staying put makes at least as much sense--maybe more--than driving off into the unknown. Yet Cruise seems to understand (correctly) that sticking around is dangerous. How? (Another minor problem I just remembered is Cruise is looking for his son, who stole his car. When all the cars stop, the son is just around the corner. That's mighty convenient. I'd figured he was miles away.)

But worst of all from a logic standpoint, we see thousands of cars parked uselessly on the highway as Cruise whizzes by. Are you telling me there's not a single stretch where the cars are close enough so that Cruise can't get through (at high speed, no less)?

It doesn't matter how brilliant the filmmaking is, if you push the scene, the story or the character in the wrong direction, it doesn't work.