Topline
Ice Cube’s new movie “War of the Worlds” is the No. 1 film on Amazon Prime Video—but it is going viral for the wrong reasons and facing brutal mockery by social media users and critics, who have called it “tragic” and “cheap-looking,” slapping it with a rare 0% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Rapper-actor Ice Cube stars in a new adaptation of the 1898 H.G. Wells novel, “War of the Worlds,” on Amazon Prime Video, in which he plays a Department of Homeland Security computer security agent who contends with an alien invasion.
The movie is a modern remake of the century-old novel, and it is told completely through the perspective of computer screens as characters interact with one another through video calls.
“War of the Worlds” is the No. 1 movie on the streaming platform as of Wednesday—but the movie has been universally panned by critics and audiences, earning a 0% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a dismal 17% audience score.
The movie was directed by first-time feature film director Rich Lee, who has previously made music videos for artists including Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish and Eminem, with the cast of “War of the Worlds” being rounded out by actors Eva Longoria, Clark Gregg, Andrea Savage and Henry Hunter Hall.
Variety critic Peter Debruge slammed the movie as a “cheap-looking thriller” and criticized Ice Cube’s performance, stating he has “two expressions: a resting scowl and nuclear overreaction,” neither of which make him convincing as a government security agent. The Daily Telegraph critic Ed Power said the movie is “one of the most tragic things Prime has put on screen,” stating it “leeches all the fun out of what should be an epic tale of alien invasion.” “Nobody put any effort into this. None,” said Korey Coleman, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic who runs the Double Toasted podcast, criticizing the graphics and the way the film was designed to be told entirely through computer screens. Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic Austin Burke said “War of the Worlds” is “in the discussion for worst movie of the decade so far,” criticizing the CGI and stating the movie is unintentionally funny. Some critics said the movie had an excessive amount of product placement for Amazon. Power said in one scene, a character tells another: “I need you to place an official order on Amazon to activate the drone,” and an Amazon delivery driver saves the day.
The film has gone viral on social media, largely because users have poked fun at it. Popular YouTube creator penguinz0, who has 17 million subscribers, criticized “War of the Worlds” in a video titled, “This is Actually the Worst Movie I've Ever Seen,” garnering 3.5 million views. He said the film is an “insult to the entire medium of making movies” and is “one big ad for Amazon.” One user on X called the movie “hilariously awful” and attached a clip of the scene, panned by many reviewers, in which an Amazon delivery driver sends Ice Cube’s character a thumbdrive he needs. Other clips have gone viral on social media making fun of Ice Cube’s expressions throughout the movie.
“War of the Worlds” started production in 2020, Deadline reported, though it is unclear why the film was not released until five years later. The movie was produced by Timur Bekmambetov, who has helmed other movies that take place entirely on computer screens, like “Searching” and “Unfriended,” though those movies were better reviewed by critics. Bekmambetov told Deadline the movie was told through screens to put a modern twist on the original novel, so audiences can “ask themselves: If aliens invaded today, how would we experience it? Most likely, we’d be watching it on our phones.”
Wells’ novel has been adapted for film before to much greater success. In 2005, Steven Spielberg directed a “War of the Worlds” film starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning, which earned a 76% score on Rotten Tomatoes and three Academy Award nominations. Spielberg’s version grossed $604 million at the global box office, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of that year. A 1953 film adaptation titled “The War of the Worlds” won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and earned nominations for editing and sound recording.