Rotten Tomatoes Critics Crush Ice Cube's ‘War Of The Worlds' Remake

Forbes

2 days ago

Ice Cube and Eva Longoria's War of the Worlds remake is under attack by Rotten Tomatoes critics.
War of the Worlds, of course, originated as an H.G. Wells novel about a Martian invasion that threw a country into a panic on Oct. 30, 1938, as Orson Welles' radio play of the story that blurred the lines of art and reality.
The first movie iteration of The War of the Worlds, starring Gene Barry, was released in 1958 and in 2005, Tom Cruise starred in a big-screen interpretation of Wells' tale with Steven Spielberg in the director's chair.
Now, 20 years after Spielberg's take on the classic story, Ice Cube and Eva Longoria are starring in a new film iteration of War of the Worlds.
A Universal Pictures release, the new War of the Worlds was released exclusively on Wednesday on Prime Video. The official summary of the film reads, 'A gargantuan invasion is coming with this fresh take on the legendary novel of the same name.
'Renowned actress Eva Longoria is joined by iconic rapper and actor Ice Cube, along with Michael O'Neill and Iman Benson, for a thrilling out-of-this-world adventure that is filled with present-day themes of technology, surveillance, and privacy.'
As of Sunday, War of the Worlds has found no love from Rotten Tomatoes critics, who have collectively given the film a 0% 'rotten' rating based on 10 reviews. The film is still awaiting a Critics Consensus summary.
Audiences casting votes on RT weren't that much more impressed, giving the film an 11% based on 500-plus verified user ratings.
Negative reviews notwithstanding, War of the Worlds is still attracting big attention on Prime Video. As of this publication, the new version of War of the Worlds is the No. 2 most-viewed title on Prime Video.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About 'War Of The Worlds'?
So far, Peter Debruge of Variety is the only critic on RT who has posted a review of War of the Worlds in the Top Critics section.
In his review summary on RT, Debruge writes, 'Even with a Prime subscription, you have to sit through two minutes of ads to watch 90 more of what amounts to a feature-length commercial for all things Amazon.'
Among the other critics on RT who posted a 'rotten' review of War of the Worlds is Patrick Beatty of NBC4 Utah, who writes, 'Told entirely through screens and digital devices, this 'screenlife' thriller tries to bring H.G. Wells' classic into the tech era, but not only fails at being entertaining, but fails at being a movie itself.'
Directed by Rich Lee, War of the Worlds is streaming exclusively on Prime Video. The film is rated PG-13.