‘War of the Worlds’ Review: Ice Cube Leads a Clunky, Low-Budget Take on the Alien Invasion Classic
In 1938, Orson Welles scared a nation with a fictional alien invasion. In 2025, Amazon gives us a “War of the Worlds” adaptation that might only terrify viewers with how spectacularly bad it is. Anchored by Ice Cube in a bizarrely miscast role and shoehorned into a screenlife format — where the entire film plays out on a desktop computer — this straight-to-streaming sci-fi thriller is less about intergalactic warfare and more about parental overreach and Prime Day product placement.
From Rap Legend to Homeland Security Helicopter Dad
Ice Cube stars as Will Radford, a grumpy Department of Homeland Security analyst who apparently works alone in a high-tech surveillance hub with unlimited access to the country’s security feeds — and his children’s fridges, laptops, and vitals. His life is basically a chaotic multi-tab spreadsheet: scolding his pregnant daughter Faith (Iman Benson) about her diet, watching his gamer son Dave (Henry Hunter Hall) waste time, and helping his boss (Clark Gregg) hunt down a hacker named “Disruptor.”
Ice Cube plays the role with his usual signature scowl and a short temper — and that’s it. It’s hard to believe the U.S. government gave this guy access to an entire nation’s surveillance. Maybe they just thought glasses would make him look qualified.
The Invasion Begins… on Lo-Res Video
Around the 20-minute mark, things go sideways: fireballs rain from the sky, and buildings start exploding — at least, according to whatever grainy social media videos Will clicks through. This alien invasion has all the cinematic scope of watching someone doomscroll during a thunderstorm.
Director Rich Lee, best known for music videos and visual effects, clearly doesn’t have the budget (or the vision) to deliver an awe-inspiring alien war. Instead, we get a gleaming tripod mech that’s admittedly kind of cool, surrounded by shaky news footage and low-energy chaos. It’s like watching Independence Day… through a buffering YouTube video.
Family First, Planet Later
In classic disaster movie fashion, Will only seems interested in saving his own kids while the rest of the world burns off-screen. When Faith goes into labor mid-invasion, you’d expect a spike in tension. Instead, we get Will nervously checking her heart rate like he’s monitoring a smartwatch — while simultaneously yelling at the President and her delivery guy boyfriend Mark (Devon Bostick), who rolls around in a Prime-branded van.
Yes, really. And when Mark tells Will to “place an official order on Amazon to activate the drone,” it becomes clear what this film really is: an overlong Amazon ad disguised as sci-fi.
Themes? What Themes?
Despite touching on government surveillance, data privacy, and national security overreach, the movie has no real commentary — unless you count “dads should chill out” as deep. Writers Kenneth A. Golde and Mark Hyman serve up clichés with a side of sarcasm, but there’s nothing thoughtful behind the mess. The invasion? Just a backdrop for Ice Cube to yell, “Take your intergalactic asses back home!” (Which is admittedly the best line in the film.)
Final Verdict: Skip and Delete
Amazon’s War of the Worlds is a clunky, uninspired sci-fi misfire that fails as a thriller, comedy, or even a guilty pleasure. It has one or two half-clever ideas (including a modern spin on the classic “computer virus” trope), but it’s buried under bad writing, laughable logic, and product placement so heavy it might qualify for a tax write-off.
If you want alien invasion with heart, stakes, or spectacle, this ain’t it. If you’re just here for Ice Cube cussing out Martians, maybe skip to the last 10 minutes — then cancel your Prime trial before it auto-renews.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Verdict: The aliens aren’t the problem. The script is.
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