Ice Cube’s newest film has been heavily criticized by reviewers, achieving the rare and unfortunate distinction of a zero percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Released on Amazon Prime on July 30, this post-apocalyptic film is gaining attention for reasons it might not prefer.
Entitled War of the Worlds, the movie is a modern take on the classic 1898 novel by H.G. Wells.
Starring Ice Cube, the story unfolds entirely through digital screens, a concept that might have been innovative over a decade ago.
In the film, Ice Cube portrays Will Radford, a cyber-security analyst for the Department of Homeland Security, who oversees a global surveillance system.
When aliens invade Earth with meteors and machines, Radford, with the help of his hacker son Dave (played by Henry Hunter Hall) and NASA scientist Dr. Sandra Salas (portrayed by Eva Longoria), discovers a chilling fact: the extraterrestrial beings consume data, instigating a large-scale battle over information systems.
Despite a promising concept, the film’s execution leaves much to be desired. Even the trailer, available below, has been met with skepticism and disappointment.
The movie’s tagline, “It’s worse than you think,” proved unintentionally accurate, with one social media user noting the honesty in its marketing.
Among 18 critics’ evaluations, the movie has shockingly achieved a zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As expected, critics have been unrestrained in their critique of the ‘limp, lifeless’ film.
Paul Mount from Starburst bluntly states: “War of the Worlds is a tortuous, endless 90 minutes of glitchy video clips, military stock footage, glad-to-be-doing-something actors running through the street waving a camera in front of their faces and pretending to be scared.”
Peter Debruge from Variety remarks: “Even with a Prime subscription, you have to sit through two minutes of ads to watch 90 more of what amounts to a feature-length commercial for all things Amazon.”
Ed Power from the Daily Telegraph criticizes it as ‘silly’ and ‘shoddy,’ saying: “[It] features far too much of rapper-turned-leading man Ice Cube staring at a computer screen while looking as if he’s working through a reasonably urgent digestive ailment.”
Additionally, viewers on Twitter highlighted conspicuous Amazon product placement that left them astonished.
This involves Devon Bostick, known for his role as Rodrick Heffley in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, portraying Mark, who is tasked with delivering a crucial flash drive to Will.
When questioned by Will about the delivery method, the company’s drone service surprisingly solves the problem.
Mark confidently states: “Prime Air. It’s the future of delivery – they’ve been training us for months.”
To initiate the drone delivery, Mark places an Amazon order for a USB stick with just two clicks.
“This scene in War of the Worlds 2025 had my jaw drop,” one viewer commented, with another describing it as ‘hilariously awful’.
War of the Worlds is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.