It seems if your mind ain’t able to accept a different approach to the H.G Wells story then just don’t bother with the new War Of The Worlds.
Remember the latest Black Mirror season? the black & white episode titled “Dogs”?. Well, if you enjoyed that episode, then you’ll find a lot to love about War Of The Worlds. It takes you on a completely different journey than what you would expect. This is going to be a series, not a mini-series. Yeah, we don’t have the tripods that shoot laser beams, turning people into a pile of smouldering ash. That doesn’t mean we won’t get them, we just haven’t arrived there…yet. There are many references throughout the series that there is something much bigger about to happen.
The new adaptation deals with an alien invasion of a different kind. Most of humanity is wiped out due to a large pulsating neurological signal that kills everyone where they stand. The only survivors are those who made it underground at the time – these are our main protagonists. The series takes place mainly in France and England.
Instead of tripods, the first step of the invasion is robot-like dogs. These robots roam around the city killing everyone they come into contact with. But we soon learn that it ain’t just extermination. These dogs seem to be collecting information for step 2 of the invasion…well, that’s my thoughts anyway.
I really enjoyed War Of The Worlds. I have seen enough stuff in my time to be able to accept something different. I was hoping that we would get to see some tripods…but it wasn’t the end of the world (pun intended). The characters were really well written each with their own intentions and reasons for survival.
Yeah, there are some slow pacing moments that focuses on the characters during the invasion.
As for the violence, well, War Of The Worlds is Rated 18s and in bits, very violent, hard-hitting, graphic & tense. That alone was enough for me to give it my full attention. Unlike Steven Spielberg’s sugar-coated teeny, family-friendly adaptation, this new version doesn’t hold back.
I think I could compare the OST to 28 Days Later which is a huge compliment to the composer. The scenes of towns or cities that have been wiped out along with eerie, mellow simplistic guitar music really added to that apocalyptic vibe. The shots of vacant streets, littered with decomposing corpses were as haunting and disturbing as it sounds.
OVERALL
Yeah, it ain’t nothing like H.G Wells original story – but that’s coming…believe me. This new take on the classic sci-fi tale has just been expanded for the small-screen. If you ain’t able to accept change and open your mind to a new sort of War Of The Worlds then just you keep watching the Spielberg movie. This was fantastic and I can’t wait to see where they go with the story next.
7.5/10
SPOILERS
I was very impressed with myself when I noticed my very own Easter Egg. Okay, I haven’t really looked into it, so maybe a lot of people got it
SPOILERS AHEAD
Officer Claire meets her death when one of the robo-dogs rips her unborn baby from her whom. There was an aerial shot showing her life-less, baby-less corpse on the ground. The person playing Officier Claire is called Alysson Paradis, a French actress. She starred in one of my favourite French Extreme movies called Inside. In, Inside, she battles with an evil woman who breaks into her house and tries to steal her unborn baby…and succeeds. It was a bleak af ending of her laying on the stairs with her unborn child ripped from her whom. I thought it was a nice little way of paying respects and homage to one of the films that paved my love for hardcore horror. So, I highly doubt it was a coincidence. I was delighted when I finally figured it out.
As always, thanks for reading.
Words by GG Founder/Owner/BigCheese @ Moviehooker
