War of the Worlds: Amazon Saves the World?

War of the Worlds is the kind of movie you truly have to see to believe, though once you do, you may wish you hadn’t. It feels like a bizarre experiment: written by ChatGPT, shot on an iPhone through Microsoft Teams, and filmed entirely in a bedroom over a weekend. The acting, dialogue, and CGI are hilariously bad, and not in a charming B-movie way; they're just cheap and painfully awkward.

The film tries to position itself as a cyber-thriller in the style of Searching or Missing, but with an alien invasion twist. Unfortunately, it fails at both. There’s no suspense, no emotional weight, and absolutely no sense of realism. Ice Cube, somehow roped into this mess, is the only source of entertainment. His deadpan reactions to watching the world end via his laptop are unintentionally hysterical. His performance feels like a mix of confusion and resignation, and you can’t help but laugh.

The alien “invasion” consists of actors shaking their phones on video calls, stock and AI-sounding news coverage with blurred faces, terrible VFX, and scenes of Ice Cube hacking everything from cars to kitchen appliances. It feels like a parody, but it takes itself seriously, which only adds to the absurdity.

Then comes the third act: a full-blown Amazon commercial. No exaggeration: an Amazon product saves the world. Subtlety is thrown out the window in favor of blatant brand placement that’s both eye-rolling and laughable.

War of the Worlds is one of the most bafflingly absurd, ugly, and lazy films released in 2025. It’s not just bad; it’s fascinatingly bad. And while that may earn it some ironic watchability points, it comfortably takes the title of worst movie of the year.