Movie reviews
World War
Zero Star. Running time: 91 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some sci-fi action/violence, strong language, bloody images). Available on Prime Video.
H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds,” originally a novel from 1898, underwent a transformation in 1938 when Orson Welles adapted it into a radio broadcast that sparked widespread panic.
Now, Prime Video has released a film titled “Ice Cube Starring,” which left me, frankly, feeling a bit ill.
This could be one of the worst movies I’ve seen in the last decade. It’s supposed to explore our will to survive, but honestly, it feels more like an awkward corporate training video.
How did we go from an exciting alien invasion narrative to something that feels completely devoid of thought?
Let’s talk about the film’s development.
Directed by Rich Lee and filmed in 2020 under strict COVID restrictions, the entire production consists mostly of Zoom calls involving Ice Cube’s character, William. Yes, cubicles everywhere.
This is probably not what people want to see after a long workday: Ice Cube, typing away with his password.
Once it was finished, “War of the World” sat unseen for five years. One might wonder if that was a good thing.
But then it quietly appeared on Amazon Prime last week, like just another package dropped off in the afternoon.
Interestingly, the studio smartly opted not to let critics see this film before its release.
In all fairness, it’s a cinematic disaster.
Somehow, “War” managed to climb to number five on the US video charts, likely due to a wave of curiosity from those seeking self-inflicted pain. Yet now, audiences have come to realize it’s a confusing jumble that lacks any coherent logic.
In barely 91 minutes, we see a global alien invasion spanning America, Russia, China, and Africa, starting and ending in what feels like moments.
Compared to this, “Independence Day” is practically a documentary.
And Ice Cube… well, he’s not exactly the action hero we remember from the 1990s. His character barely manages to look heroic while seated in front of a screen.
Nor does his role at the Department of Homeland Security inspire much confidence—it revolves around tracking threats through a network of cameras and drones.
Ice Cube hollers at the screen, wearing a somewhat clownish expression, while his character interacts with Eva Longoria’s Sandra, who, for some reason, seems enamored with his skill set.
Interestingly, no one else seems to be present in this supposedly bustling office environment.
William obsessively uses company resources to monitor his kids while the Earth faces an asteroid attack, spawning giant alien robots that wreak havoc across major cities.
This is mostly conveyed through news broadcasts and awkward drone footage.
The special effects? A big step backward compared to Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” featuring Tom Cruise two decades ago.
This computer-generated imagery (CGI) could have been decent if not for its resemblance to a poorly-made music video.
Regrettably, the only thing feeling “blue” here is the poor audience.
Can a bad script be salvaged by lackluster visuals? Probably not. I was convinced the dialogue was penned by a clueless animal until I checked the film’s credits.
Written by Kenny Golden and Mark Heiman, the script struggles to add sparkle to Ice Cube staring blankly at his computer.
Interestingly, William also pursues a hacker known as “The Disruptor.”
This subplot, however, is even more absurd than the alien invasion itself.
At one point, an Amazon delivery person pilots a drone to deliver USB thumb drives to Washington, D.C. Yes, that actually occurs.
But honestly, the best service Amazon could provide is to erase this film from its streaming platform altogether.
