A new straight-to-streaming adaptation of H.G. Wells' 'War of the Worlds' starring Ice Cube has been met with scathing reviews, with critics branding it a 'witless' and 'unconvincing' disaster. The film, released on Amazon Prime, confines the alien invasion to a single computer desktop, with Ice Cube playing a surly Homeland Security analyst who monitors surveillance cameras.
Directed by Rich Lee and produced by Timur Bekmambetov, the film uses a screenlife format that offers little more than glitchy video clips and surveillance footage. Ice Cube's character, Will Radford, spends most of the film grimacing at his screen, tracking his children and coordinating arrests while fireballs and tripods wreak havoc outside his window.
The review from a major outlet describes the film as 'the least convincing screenlife thriller' and criticises its over-reliance on Amazon branding, calling it 'a feature-length commercial for all things Amazon'. The plot, which intertwines alien invasion with a parenting message, fails to deliver any real tension or spectacle, with the destruction rendered in blurry lo-res videos.
Despite the presence of actors such as Eva Longoria and Clark Gregg, the film has been panned for its poor execution and unconvincing special effects. The backlash highlights growing frustration with low-quality streaming content, as audiences question the wisdom of adapting classic literature into gimmicky digital formats.
