Main cast: Ice Cube (William Radford), Eva Longoria (Dr Sandra Salas), Clark Gregg (Director Donald Briggs), Iman Benson (Faith Radford), Henry Hunter Hall (Dave Radford), Devon Bostick (Mark Goodman), Michael O’Neill (US Secretary of Defense Walter Crystal), and Andrea Savage (Sheila Jeffries)
Director: Rich Lee
Ever wondered what HG Wells’s War of the Worlds would look like if it were rewritten by a committee of social media managers and filmed entirely through the jittery lenses of confused Zoomers yelling into their phones? Welcome to this cinematic gem that no one asked for but Amazon Prime insisted we endure.
This is not so much a sci-fi thriller as it is an extended, barely disguised infomercial for Amazon Prime. Imagine the alien invasion scenario, except instead of terrifying extraterrestrials, the real monster is relentless corporate branding.
The movie sat on the shelf for years, probably because even the aliens looked at the script and said, “Nah, we’re good.” Finally, Amazon Prime decided to unleash it on unsuspecting viewers — and now you know why it stayed hidden.
Enter Ice Cube as Will Radford, a Homeland Security officer with access to a surveillance program so all-seeing it makes Big Brother look like a confused tourist.
As for Ice Cube’s performance, picture a guy who’s just been told to download FaceTime and is staring at his PC wallpaper like it’s a Picasso he doesn’t get. His reaction to the apocalypse is so tepid it might as well be a shrug emoji.
As the aliens invade, everyone — friends, family members, colleagues —feels compelled to scream their life stories into his digital diary, making Will less of a hero and more of a very patient IT support line.
While the world burns and cities crumble, Will’s facial expression stays solidly in “mildly inconvenienced” territory. Did Ice Cube need the paycheck that badly? Because his enthusiasm took a hard left and never came back.
Then there’s the baffling choice to have people narrate the chaos via phones instead of, say, running away screaming. Because apparently, documenting your imminent doom is an essential 21st-century survival strategy?
The plot reaches peak absurdity when Amazon Prime emerges as humanity’s last hope. Yes, the same Amazon that could probably sell your soul back to you manages to defeat aliens and cybercriminals alike, thanks to its fleet of heroic delivery drones. Forget laser weapons or global alliances — just send out the Amazon Prime drones and voilà, Earth saved.
This movie is too awkward to be a good parody, not campy enough to be “so bad it’s good”, and a tedious slog that feels like sitting through the world’s least subtle sales pitch. If you want to watch a movie where product placement is the actual antagonist, this one’s for you.
For the rest of u, best to skip it. The only thing this film successfully invades is your patience.
