Globe and Mail reviewer Liam Lacey gives War of the Worlds three stars.

Some excerpts:

If you must see just one Steven Spielberg movie in a lifetime, see War of the Worlds. The movie includes so many familiar tropes and tricks from the director's career, he could probably sue himself for plagiarism. Suggested blurbs on the marquee come to mind: "War of the Worlds, the generic Spielberg summer blockbuster!" or "Spielberg does it again -- and again, and again!"

This is B-movie material all the way, yet it's not only watchable, it's engrossing. That's because the material is in the hands of an A-talent director, who knows, as few of his contemporaries do, how to manipulate the plastic qualities of a film: the lighting, editing, composition, camera movement and production values.

With favourite collaborators Janusz Kaminski (director of photography), production designer Rick Carter and editor Michael Kahn, Spielberg creates a world shot full of overbright light and dark shadow, pockets of weird incandescence amidst the gloom. Though the cars and buildings may be contemporary, the palette has the lurid appeal of old Technicolor movies and the faded ink of vintage comic books.

As for (Tom) Cruise, the performance by the world's leading box-office star is less about acting than action: He's the agent of movement in the narrative, and that's all that is required. There's not a moment of doubt who the movie belongs to: Steven Spielberg, past and present.