8 Ways Ice Cubes War of the Worlds Gets It Totally Wrong

10 Ways Ice Cubes War of the Worlds Gets It Totally Wrong

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were breaking down the ways that this 2025 sci-fi adaptation completely loses sight of its source material and of any logic.

A Tonal Mismatch

H. G. Wells original 1898 The War of the Worlds has, for generations, been heralded as one of the great works of science fiction. Weaving in nail-biting suspense and thoughtful social commentary, Wells novel presents a ground-level view of a terrifying alien invasion. Director Rich Lees 2025 adaptation not so much. Instead of putting audiences in the shoes of terrified civilians, the new War of the Worlds follows a convoluted, ineffective effort by the U.S. government to contain the otherworldly threat. The choice to reframe the novels narrative shows a profound misunderstanding of Wells novel, contorting it into a noisy, chaotic action thriller thats neither action-packed nor thrilling.

Half-Hearted Surveillance Critiques

If you want to give the War of the Worlds remake some credit, you could award it some points for taking a stab at cultural relevance. Unfortunately for the filmmakers, thats about as far as it can be taken. The new film stars Ice Cube as Will Radford, who works for the United States Department of Homeland Security, and heads up an almost comically sophisticated, top-secret surveillance program that can track every single person on Earths every movement. While War of the Worlds clearly has something on its mind with regard to government overreach, its not nearly as potent or even as fleshed out as the original novels subtle, thoughtful commentary on colonialism and imperialism.

Cringey Dialogue

We would argue that every problem with 2025s War of the Worlds originates from its script. Kenneth A. Golde and Marc Hymans screenplay already feels like its ticking off a list of clichés, and the films interplay between its characters is the clearest example of that. Nearly every line of Rich Lees film is pure exposition, a mercilessly expedient way to get from Plot Point A to Plot Point B in the shortest amount of time possible. And look, were not saying we expected Citizen Kane, but surely the filmmakers could have thought of something more compelling than having their characters say exactly what theyre thinking at all times. Talk about alien behavior!

Misunderstanding Martian Weakness

Let us note that by no means are filmmakers expected to perfectly preserve every beat and plot device from the source material theyre adapting. In fact, changing up certain elements while respecting the spirit of the original work is a time-honored way of keeping things fresh for contemporary audiences. Unfortunately, the Ice Cube-starring War of the Worlds turns Wells powerful novel into a run-of-the-mill sci-fi extravaganza. Whereas Wells Martians die from exposure to earthly pathogens, the 2025 film adaptation has Ice Cubes character and his family join forces to deploy a bio-agent against the attackers which accomplishes little. Instead, focus is placed on the aliens hunger for data, and the film doesnt even clarify how their mission was thwarted.

Forced Family Drama

The emotional beats of the new War of the Worlds arent totally off: it should be noted that Wells original novel does prominently feature its unnamed protagonists efforts to return to his wife amidst a terrifying alien invasion. However, thats about where the similarities end. The 2025 film spends far too long on clumsily setting up the turmoil affecting Will Radfords family. The plot beats are totally stale: Radford, still reeling from the death of his wife some time earlier, is overprotective of his son and pregnant daughter, who have both distanced themselves from him. This is supposed to form the films emotional core, but is so painfully shoehorned in that audiences will find themselves begging for more explosions.

Impenetrable Plot Armor

Perhaps one of War of the Worlds most unforgivable flaws is its sheer lack of believability. The film repeatedly makes it clear that this is a full-on, extinction-level event, and that the Earths critical infrastructure and human population are being completely wiped out. And yet, at the same time, despite finding themselves in the dead heat of the invasion, Will Radford, along with his family and colleagues, are somehow immune to the forces that appear to be killing everyone around them. On numerous occasions, Will is devastated to witness what he thinks is a loved ones violent and dramatic end before they pop up again moments later, usually miraculously unharmed. We guess the aliens set their invasion to easy mode?

Screenlife Format Flaws

Again, were tempted to give War of the Worlds points for trying something new. After all, producer Timur Bekmambetovs trademark screenlife format, in which the films action takes in apparent real time on a computer screen, has been employed to great effect in the past. War of the Worlds is the exception that proves the rule. While its talented cast is clearly trying their best to hold everything together, theyre tragically stranded in screenlife hell, powerless to the limits imposed by the filmmaking style. We guess that there are only so many ways you can make logging into Microsoft Teams meetings look exciting and urgent.

Product Placement Overload

If nothing else, 2025s War of the Worlds may serve as fuel for future drinking games in that, if you took a shot every time a real-life brand is shown or mentioned, youd have a hard time standing up by the time the credits roll. Placements include Zoom, Microsoft, Spotify, and even the infamous Staples easy button, for some reason just to name a few. Perhaps the most egregious spotlight of all is Amazon, which makes sense considering that the e-commerce and streaming mega-titan released War of the Worlds on Prime Video. Radfords daughters partner is an Amazon driver, and frequent references are made to shopping on the platform. All in all, youre better off using Prime to order a copy of H. G. Wells novel.

What did you think of the new War of the Worlds? Did we miss any of the ways that Ice Cube and the gang got it wrong? Sound off in the comments below!