Just when you thought Hollywood had exhausted every possible remake of H.G. Wells’ classic War of the Worlds, Prime Video dropped a surprise new version at the end of July — one starring Ice Cube as a Homeland Security officer battling an alien invasion… from behind a computer screen. The film arrived quietly on the platform — but has made loud noise online, and not for the right reasons.
The Plot: Aliens, Hackers & Zoom Calls?
In this 2025 reimagining, Ice Cube plays Will Radford, a Department of Homeland Security analyst on the graveyard shift. He spends his days (and confusingly, his nights) staring at security monitors, chasing down a mysterious hacker named “Disruptor,” and spying on his own kids — one a pregnant daughter, the other a gamer son.
But while he’s caught up in domestic drama and digital terrorism, something far bigger is brewing — literally from the sky. Meteor-like objects crash across the globe, unleashing massive alien tripods that begin destroying everything in their path.
Sounds intense, right? Well, here’s the twist — most of the movie happens on Will’s computer screen.
Shot Like a Zoom Call… And It Shows
This movie is part of a filmmaking style known as screenlife, where the entire story unfolds on a computer screen. It worked well for horror hits like Unfriended and Searching, but here it becomes more of a gimmick than a storytelling tool.
Even worse? The movie breaks its own format repeatedly, cutting to traditional shots that pretend to be Zoom calls — but clearly aren’t. The result is a visually jarring and emotionally empty experience. Ice Cube tries to carry the film with scowls and sarcasm, but he’s isolated in every scene, and not even his charisma can save the awkward pacing.
Terrible Visual Effects, Critical Backlash
If you thought the alien ships in past versions looked fake, this one takes the cake. Critics say the CGI would look more at home in a Snickers ad than in a sci-fi blockbuster. Think: cartoonish destruction, awkward green-screen blending, and meteor strikes that look like clip art.
And audiences agree.
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Rotten Tomatoes score:
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Critics: 0% (21 reviews)
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Audience score: 19% (1,000+ ratings)
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Yikes. That puts it in rare company as one of the worst-reviewed movies of the year.
Why This Was Made (and Why It Sat for Years)
This version of War of the Worlds was first announced in 2020 as a pandemic-era experiment. Director Timur Bekmambetov, known for pushing the “screenlife” format, tried to craft a high-stakes alien invasion story using isolated, Zoom-style filming setups.
But despite wrapping up production in 2021, the film sat on a shelf for years. Only now — four years later — did it quietly land on Prime Video. No marketing, no premiere, just… boom, here it is.
Another film from that same forgotten Universal pipeline — Long Distance, starring Anthony Ramos — recently debuted on Hulu under similar circumstances. Coincidence? Maybe not.
Final Verdict: A Swing and a Miss
In theory, War of the Worlds 2025 had potential: a recognizable star, a beloved sci-fi story, and a modern twist on digital-age surveillance. But in execution, it feels cheap, rushed, and hollow. The screenlife format is mishandled, the VFX are borderline embarrassing, and the story lacks any of the emotional or thematic depth of previous adaptations — including Spielberg’s 2005 version.
Still curious? Watch it for yourself on Prime Video — just don’t say we didn’t warn you.
