'War of the Worlds' (2025): A Review of a Perfect, Zero-Star Disaster
Every once in a while, a film comes along that doesn’t just fail; it achieves a kind of perfect, awe-inspiring awfulness. A film so profoundly misguided, so tragically executed, that it transcends badness and becomes a work of accidental comedic genius.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 2025 adaptation of ‘War of the Worlds.’
First, let’s be crystal clear: this is not Steven Spielberg’s competent 2005 blockbuster. This is the new, shiny, straight-to-streaming disaster starring Ice Cube, a film that currently holds a majestic, unblemished 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Achieving a perfect zero is harder than getting 100%. You have to actively try to fail this spectacularly.
The film is presented in the “screenlife” format, meaning we watch the entire alien invasion unfold through computer screens, phone cameras, and video calls. In practice, this means you’re watching a 90-minute recording of someone’s chaotic desktop, complete with buffering video, glitchy audio, and more blatant Amazon product placement than an actual Amazon commercial. I’m still not sure if I watched a movie or a very long ad for the Fire tablet.
The CGI appears to have been rendered on a potato, with alien tripods moving with the grace of a broken shopping cart. And then there’s Ice Cube, who delivers a performance that can only be described as a “nuclear overreaction.” Every line is shouted, every expression is one of sheer panic, turning what should be a terrifying sci-fi thriller into a baffling comedy sketch.
So, should you watch it? Absolutely not. It’s an insult to H.G. Wells, an insult to filmmaking, and an insult to your own precious time.
Unless, of course, you’re like me and you appreciate a perfect disaster. If you want to witness a cinematic train wreck in real-time, a film that fails on every conceivable level, then grab some friends, a few drinks, and prepare to laugh until you cry.
‘War of the Worlds’ (2025) isn’t a movie; it’s a cry for help, rendered in 4K. And honestly? It’s the most fun I’ve had watching a bad movie all year.
