Last week, the Ice Cube-starring “War of the Worlds” — a film that wrapped production five years ago— was finally dumped on Amazon Prime.
It wouldn’t be getting the ol’ tax write-off. Instead, straight to streaming will do. To mark the “occasion,” Prime released an atrocious trailer, accompanied by a short description that read: “Ice Cube fights aliens to save his family and the world.”
The reviews are starting to pile up and I think we might have a Razzie contender on our hands. “War of the Worlds” has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 9 Reviews, with three more negative ones still pending.
Apparently, the film’s plot feels like a 2-hour commercial for Amazon. Tech Radar says the film is a “serious contender for the worst movie of the year,” primarily because it turns into a long-form Amazon advertisement, framing the company both as hero and ominous corporate power, with muddled thematic intent
In “War of the Worlds,” an Amazon deliveryman in full gear, drives a branded truck. Entire delivery-drone sequences—including an Amazon checkout interface and gift card bribe—are key plot elements. No, really, they bribe a homeless man with a $1,000 Amazon gift card
Shot in 2020, the film was clearly a problem for all parties involved, with seemingly no idea what to do with the finished product. So they waited it out, until ultimately deciding it was fit for a disposable streaming release.
This modern-day reimagining of H.G. Wells’ classic alien invasion tale, stars Ice Cube as a top cyber-security analyst (don’t laugh) who begins to suspect that the real threat might not be coming from the sky, but from within the very institution he serves—after an unprecedented attack shakes the system.
Cube is joined by Eva Longoria, in a cast that also includes Clark Gregg, Andrea Savage, Henry Hunter Hall, Iman Benson, Devon Bostick, and Michael O’Neill. The screenplay was written by Kenneth Golde and Marc Hyman.
I’m seeing plenty of “worst of the year” mentions for “Ice Cream Man,” which doesn’t surprise me one bit. Roth has never been a critical darling and has only been more burdened by that with each passing film.