What was Spielberg thinking?. Review on War of the Worlds Movie

I love Steven spielberg movies....the experience of watching ET as a kid is one of my all-time favourite memories.....and didn't everyone think twice about getting into the ocean after the spine-chilling ''Jaws''..... but what has happened to him in recent times, from the mediocre Catch me if you can, to Terminal, to War of the Worlds now?

The story of this movie is that America (supposedly the whole world, but the US of A equals the whole world..at least in the eyes of its citizens!) is taken over by some aliens who have supposedly superior intelligence and have been plotting against us stupid human beings for ages. In the midst of this we have a ''heroic'' figure, (who else but the otherwise inane Tom cruise) who miraculously manages to keep his family safe through all kinds of attacks. The most incredible part of the movie is the end.....where it turns out its not human beings who are stupid, but the aliens, who despite centuries of planning, failed to figure out one basic thing...wont tell you what that is, just in case you are planning to watch the movie!

With regards to the performances, the actors weren't bad. Even though I love to hate Tom Cruise, he was quite ok as the irresponsible but ultimately heroic father, Dakota Fanning was convincingly annoying as the kid who screams at the wrong moments, Tim Robbins magnificent in a small role.

To be fair, if it wasn't a Spielberg movie, you'd find war of the worlds an entertaining movie, and quite scary right upto the end. But knowing fully well it is directed by an otherwise master story teller, you are left sorely disappointed.