We just saw this movie. Not bad, and a lot of the special effects I wish I’d seen on the Big Screen…but why must everything be about the children?! I am so tired of whiny little kids in every movie. I nearly made this a Pit thread, but decided not to. Ugh!
Other than that, some of it was pretty cool, like the middle 2/3, minus kid-whining. But what a Spielberg ending! :rolleyes:
I’ll forgive her anything.
“Where is he?”
“He left.”
“He left!?”
“Yup.” [perfect pause.] “He just took your car and left.”
That slayed me.
Really? I tried to give her a chance, but I hate Dakota-what’s-her-face anyway. Much too mataure, and not cute at all.
I’ll forgive Ms. Fanning anything, too – in fact, I thought the “whiny child” you were referring to in the OP was the older son, because I was unable to wrap my mind around the idea that anyone might have something critical to say of Dakota Fanning.
I’ll watch her in anything. Hell, I’ll probably pick up that Black Beauty clone on DVD, which I certainly wouldn’t consider if it were any other kid in her role. I even watched Uptown Girls, which (apart from Dakota Fanning’s contribution) is a singularly execrable movie. She made it enjoyable.
She’s a remarkable talent. She didn’t have much to do in War of the Worlds, but she did what she was tasked with flawlessly. That kid has an amazing range, and she can sell anything. Ever since I Am Sam, I’ll give anything she’s in a shot – and even if the movie turns out to be disappointing, (I’m looking at you, Hide & Seek,) I always feel like I’m getting my money’s worth when she’s on-screen. A born trooper!
So nyah.
Oh, wow, me and my SO really hated her. I hate whiny little girls in movies, anyway - the movie should have followed the book more closely and not had a kid at all. I’m not sure what she did to add to the movie!
So, sorry, we’ll agree to disagree. 
Well, I’m going to pop in to thank Anaamika for this. Widdle Dakota bugs the crap out of me, I’m not a Cruise fan, but something kept tugging me to go see this movie anyway.
Now, I’ll save my lunch money and feel better for skipping it. Thanks for backing up my suspicion/hunch, what have you. It’s just goling to be easier to resist now.
Acutally mr bus guy, I would have to recommend it. Dakota was horrible, but some parts of it were really really good… the monsters and the machines and the terror, for example.
**Another fairly decent movie ruined by a whiny child (War of the Worlds spoilers) **
But Tom Cruise was the “star” of the movie, so you just have to tolerate him.
Geez, and I went to all the trouble to capitalize my name (partially) because of the grief I got from you and some others, notably the Bus Kid, (“Hey dad, that shift key not working out for you?”) it would be nice… 
The machines, terror and general mayhem were drawing me in. Now I’m all conflicted again.
As much as I agree that whiny kids in movies can be annoying, and that her character certainly was whiny - I think the role called for it. I saw no unrealistic whining - she acted like a little sister, she acted like a daughter neglected by her Father, and she acted like a panicked child in a weird, dangerous, and freaky situation. Very realistic.
I think everybody was good in War of the Worlds; they all worked together perfectly. It wasn’t really about the family, it was about the world being attacked. We just followed one family during it, so it was entirely reactionary.
This was far and away a better handling of an ensemble than Jurassic Park, which got bogged down in relationship crap instead of concentrating enough on the dinosaurs.
I thought Dakota Fanning was fine, as was Tom Cruise (to my own disbelief, I assure you). The teenage son, on the other hand? The scene where he “died” made me so happy that I couldn’t restrain myself from yelping “AW NO!” out loud when he showed up again at the end.
Otherwise, the movie was quite good. The tripods vaporizing people left and right is the scariest thing I’ve seen all year (“Hush” aside).
It wasn’t the kid’s whining that drove me nuts. It was her constant high-pitched screaming that made me want to hurt someone. :mad:
That got a laugh out of me. Good one.
I must be in the minority. I don’t particularly care for Miss Fanning’s acting abilities.
I haven’t seen it and likely won’t, but I gotta agree, I have seen very few movies where the addition of a child made the movie better - usually worse. Of course there are exceptions - some movies are made to have children in them, like the Potter movies, but usually I find them annoying.
You are in a vocal minority. I too can’t tolerate Dakota* Fanning.
*Side rant. Why not “Oregon” or “Nebraska” or “Maine” Fanning? Just as stupid to name a kid with any other state name. Well, except Virginia, but that’s different, I swear.
Ditto! Aside from the fact that she’s adorable, she’s a great actress and as unaffected as they come. She’s a kid through and through, according to the interview I read about. In fact, the interviewer said he asked her why she did the horse movie (expecting her response to be some deep, analytical bullshit that was fed to a kid) and she simply said she’d never been around horses before and wanted to see what it was like. Sounds like an honest, normal response from a kid her age. I, too, will go out of my way to see this kid in anything and everything she does. Her little sister is equally talented (Door in the Floor?). I see the two of them working through their childhoods and into adult careers.
I like her, but I hated her character in WotW - the constant shrieking was wearing. Though I’ll grant that it’s probably realistic (I can’t say for certain, however; my nieces are much younger than Dakota Fanning, and they’re the only girls I’m around with any frequency).
If you want to see her turn in an excellent performance, see her in that Denzel flick (of which I now forget the name). Oh! Here it is:
But she wasn’t needed. The book didn’t have her. We just added her in so we could have an annoying single dad hero and his annoying whiny horrible little children.