"2025’s War of the Worlds is Basically a Group Chat with Explosions"

Will Radford is a top analyst for Homeland Security who tracks potential threats through a mass surveillance program, until one day an attack by an unknown entity leads him to question whether the government is hiding something from him... and from the rest of the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC3oAphUl_g

So I fired up Amazon Prime, expecting alien lasers and apocalyptic destruction, but what I got instead was a low-budget fever dream of what happens when you mix Zoom fatigue, COVID protocols, and a war of the worlds. Yes, that War of the Worlds - the H.G. Wells sci-fi juggernaut that Orson Welles turned into a national panic in 1938. Well, in 2025, it got turned into a glorified group project where no one showed up to rehearsal.

Let’s start with the cast. Ice Cube stars as the unlikely alien resistance hero, which, I’ll admit, sounded cool. I mean, I was ready for "Today was a good day... until the Martians showed up." But instead of rolling with that swagger, we get Ice Cube locked in a room barking commands at a laptop like he’s trying to reset his Wi-Fi password during a Doomsday event.

Eva Longoria plays someone who’s clearly thinking about her next project the whole time. She’s got the kind of dead-inside stare you usually only get after binge-watching The Bachelor with a bottle of expired wine. Her character's scenes were filmed in what looks suspiciously like her actual home office. I half-expected her to minimize her Zoom screen and start an Etsy order.

Then there’s Iman Benson, who was probably told this was going to be her breakout role. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. She plays it earnest, but in a movie this thin, she’s basically trying to resuscitate a corpse using mouthwash and a flashlight.

Now, about the plot. I’d give you a breakdown, but honestly? It feels like someone fed 24, Cloverfield, and a CDC pamphlet into a blender and hit puree. We’ve got aliens invading Earth, but instead of epic global battles or even a tense standoff at a Taco Bell parking lot, we get a handful of isolated video calls and awkward monologues to empty rooms. It’s like watching an apocalyptic WebMD Live Chat.

The visual effects? Oh, honey. Look, if 1996’s Independence Day was a filet mignon of sci-fi effects, War of the Worlds (2025) is a Lunchables ham slice that’s been left out in the sun too long. You can technically eat it, but you’ll regret it the second you look closely. A few of the effects were decent - probably reused assets from a screensaver factory - but most felt like they were generated on a TI-83 calculator during detention.

Now, to its credit - and I’m reaching like a yoga instructor on a caffeine bender - there were some moments that made me chuckle. Ice Cube drops a few zingers that land, mostly because he delivers them with that patented “I’m too old for this alien crap” energy. And there’s something kind of charming in how clearly everyone involved tried to make something out of nothing. You can feel the pandemic sweat on this one: filmed in 2020 with full COVID protocols, everyone is shot in their own scenes, like a really tense hostage version of The Office.

There’s also a little Easter egg I appreciated - one of the names on a Teams call is “Horson G. Welles.” That’s either a typo or a cheeky homage to Orson Welles and H.G. Wells. Either way, it’s the smartest thing in the movie.

But here’s the problem - this thing was sold as a big-budget sci-fi thriller. Universal reportedly greenlit it based on a pitch that said, “Let’s make it look expensive, but actually film it like a middle school drama club’s end-of-year project.” And boy, does it show. It’s like promising porterhouse and serving up Spam with a candle in it.

The PSA-style announcements sprinkled throughout the story feel like someone’s trying to sneak in a lesson during movie night. If I wanted to be preached at about communication protocols during an alien invasion, I’d go rewatch Arrival. But in this one, every five minutes it’s like, “Remember to check in with HQ. Stay indoors. Stay safe.” Honestly, the aliens could’ve just sent an email - it would’ve had the same dramatic impact.

The acting? I’ve seen more authentic performances from people explaining why they were late for work. Overacting, under-acting, no-acting - we got the whole buffet. And no shade to Ice Cube, Longoria, or Benson - they're doing the best they can with what amounts to a movie written on the back of a cereal box.

FINAL VERDICT: 5.0 / 10

This wasn’t a war. This was a mild territorial dispute between ambition and execution. If you’re into movies that feel like they were made with love, duct tape, and expired CGI credits, give it a spin. Otherwise, just rewatch the 2005 version and pretend this one never happened.

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