H.G. Wells has risen from the grave this year, and has begun a slow walk to find Rich Lee to lay a curse on him.

A top American Government security officer bears witness to the end of days when meteorites hit the Earth. On top of that, he must protect his family and save the entire human race. All from his wheeled desk chair.

Something of a rampant Internet surge has made the 2025 “adaptation” of H.G. Well’s classic War of the Worlds story hard to avoid. And here I am, perpetuating it. Dear reader, sometimes, you need to watch something truly terrible to remind yourself how much films can really suck.
Directed (sorry, “directed”, as I don’t believe much direction was taking place here) by Rich Lee, in his directorial debut from music videos and working in special effects. Starring Ice Cube in the lead role, Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives), Iman Benson, Clark Gregg (Avengers Assemble) and Michael O’Neill (Transformers) this film will sky rocket into infamy. Joining the ranks of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room and any Uwe Boll movies.

But… is it deliberate? No one in the right mind would make this and think it is genuinely good. In watching this film I felt like I was being punked.

The catastrophe of this film knows no bounds. While experiencing this sober is hilarious (god forbid what happens if you are drunk) it is also like having a cheese grater rake across your fleshy brain. The story follows Will Radford, supposedly one of the top surveillance agents the US government has. He is literally two people away from the President of the United States. He is also the ultimate helicopter parent. Literally, he uses government drones (and literally anything else imaginable) to track and listen to his adult children.

He’s a widower you see, and he can’t express his feelings. Ice Cube – I mean Will – also ignores the obvious plot developments (and important calls from Government officials) to spy on his children. For you see, dear, dear reader, this entire film is taking place from Will’s computer screen. Similar to movies like Unfriended, this film uses social media, “Government surveillance systems”, and news outlets to deliver the plot via Will’s computer. First of all, we need to acknowledge that Will, a professional surveillance officer, keeps his webcam footage of his own face on his own monitor all day.

If you have a problem with that, oh boy. You are not ready.
To avoid ranting/raving, let’s try and remain composed. We have Ice Cube as our link to the end of the world. He’s our emotional connection; he’s watching untold horrors from seemingly any angle across the globe. This must be absolutely terrifying. What words can someone conjure up in the face of global devastation? What spine-chilling soliloquys will be uttered? What grim, hollow musings can be expressed? How about “Damn”? Where as, when he loses connection to Facebook, he bellows “F***!” and rises from his chair in anguish.

Did I say “Facebook”? Yes. This film is released on Amazon, and it is absolutely infested with product placement. You thought Michael Bay was bad for it? You haven’t seen H.G. Well’s War of the World‘s epic conclusion being literally resolved with Amazon Prime delivery. Literally. There’s a line telling Ice Cube he needs to make an order on Amazon to save the world.

The film’s “subtext” (or rather, text) is about data, personal data, and the modern day bogeyman that is the Government knowing all of our incredibly boring habits. All wrapped within the rotting skeleton of Wells’s story. But it is all so laughable. We see how easy it is for Will to hack into computers (he even drives a Tesla remotely) but this is never shown as truly villainous. Not really. In fact, the people who can do this are lauded as heroes by the end. It is a confusing thematic mess. Never does the film challenge its self; it just makes up nonsense to progress the story. Piling nonsense on top of nonsense.

For emotional heft, Ice Cube’s estrangement from his kids is seemingly all because he didn’t accept his daughter’s boyfriend’s Facebook friend request! The horror! What is this… 2010? Everyone knows Facebook is a dead social platform in 2025. The screenwriters do try to be fancy sometimes too. Like giving emotional gravitas by saying “Forgive my trespasses”, or “the bigger they are, the harder they fall”. The President even says “War of the Worlds.” I practically threw up.

The emotional chemistry is a laboratory explosion. What about the sci-fi elements? This film has a line of dialogue, I swear to you they repeat this twice: “They are a hybrid species, biological and cyber.” I’m… I’m sorry? Do the screenwriters know what “cyber” refers to? Cybernetic. Biological matter and technology mixed. Cybernetic is hybrid.
Or did you know that when aircraft lose data and GPS, they just drop vertically out of the sky and explode? Do you need more? How about YouTube being an efficient platform for rebellion and cyberterrorism against the US Government?

This film cannot be real. This film cannot be a genuine attempt at something other than a deliberate grab for infamy. My writing this review is what it wants. The trailer says in big letters: “It’s worse than you think.” It has to be deliberate.

It hurts. It actually hurts. I cannot maintain objectivity. I suppose the only shred of positivity I can think of is the using of data and a computer virus as an analogy for Wells’s story’s conclusion. Shame the film screws it up entirely. I even grasp the analogy of using social media as a viewer for the tripod attacks: famously in 1938 War of the Worlds was read over the radio, and some listeners thought it was genuine news bulletins. I understand. But this is absolutely the worst way you could have done this.

It is awful. Maybe it was designed to be awful; we will probably see it rank in everyone’s “worst films of the year” lists, and that is something to be remembered for. Don’t watch it, unless you have friends to watch it with. Or if you are a film critic in need of grounding.

Additional Marshmallows: Oh, and the CGI is terrible. Kinda goes without saying.

Additional, Additional Marshmallows: The trailer has me cracking up again. Oh, man.