War of the Worlds 2025. What do I say? What can be said? Other than Orson Welles is probably going to start haunting Amazon warehouses or that it was the pandemic…and Ice Cube really needed the money.
If you haven’t yet seen War of the Worlds 2025, take the challenge. I merely recommend that you don’t watch alone, because this movie is so bad it is hilarious. And we could all use a laugh these days, right?
Sometimes the worst movies are the best teachers. In this post, we shall eviscerate dissect Amazon’s quietly released disaster, War of the Worlds 2025 — and what it reveals about POV, the fifth wall, and how technology reshapes the way humans tell (and consume) stories.
War of the Worlds…Words
For those of you who have been long-time followers of this blog and have read my books, I have dedicated God only knows how much time dissecting the ways technology impacts humanity. Not only does it shift cultural norms and attitudes, technology goes deeper.
It literally alters brain structure.
With every technological advancement, new art forms emerge and tastes evolve. Who wants to read War and Peace when you could watch your favorite streamer shoot demons?
We have all born witness to the vast changes just since the internet and social media swept the globe. In 2011, I couldn’t bribe writers into being on-line. Now? We all struggle to stay OFF.
Suffice to say, all of us know that AI is going to alter the storytelling landscape forever. How will it do that? What are the limitations? Are writers still even necessary?
Short answer is yes, AI will impact writers because…
…it cannot help but impact audiences.
Limitations? The human touch still required and AI (currently) still has a hard limit on how much it can learn/remember/process. Which is probably why Microsoft signed a 20 year solo agreement for all the power from a freshly renovated Three Mile Island.
***Because billionaire tech giants partnering with nuclear energy plants to power sentient computers is NEVER problematic.
So how did a serious movie about aliens leveling the Earth end up so unintentionally funny? I believe it was—in part—because the creators were trying to be serious. Imagine the creators of Sharknado making Sharknado…unironically. War of the Worlds 2025 takes itself so seriously and that just makes the laughs even better. Yet, it was more than just that.
They got BOLD and tried a new technique!
They Broke the Fifth Wall (and the audience’s brains)
In my professional opinion, a large part of what derailed this as a serious movie stemmed from the choice of POV. Point of view is a POWERFUL narrative tool that can totally shift the story tone. We’ve discussed this many times.
Perspective: POV Can Revive or Ruin a Story
Deep POV: What IS It & Why Do Readers LOVE It So Much?
We can take the SAME story, change the POV and it is totally different. YOU is a nail-biting suspense from the perspective of the love struck bookstore nerd. Shift the POV and we call it Dateline.
And this is exactly where War of the Worlds 2025 jumped the shark.
I “get” the studios wanted to give audiences a “modern” War of the Worlds for a modern world. To do this, they decided to take a gamble and hired the edgy-outside-the-box producer Timur Behmambetov to give an old story a fresh angle.
Yeah.
For context, Behmambetov has been trying to make a micro-sub-genre within the found footage world—Screenlife—work for sooo long. And bro finally got his chance!
Screenlife is basically found footage’s awkward cousin — instead of handheld cameras, everything happens on a laptop screen (E.g. Unfriended).
So why did War of the Worlds 2025 suck? Other than the obvious answer that the scariest thing in horror isn’t aliens — it’s ninety minutes of Zoom meetings.
Because breaking the fifth wall has a cost.
Many of you probably know about the fourth wall. When actors break the fourth wall, they turn from the stage and address the audience. So what is the fifth wall you might ask?
WE are the audience behind the audience. The audience becomes part of the stage. Clear as mud, right? Now y’all know why this is a tar baby to write.
In the movie, Ice Cube stars as a grumpy Gen X analyst working on a Sunday alone at The Department of Homeland Security. When Ice Cube isn’t spying on his daughter, he is spying on everyday citizens with eerily omniscient powers. Homeland is on the hunt for a hacker known as The Disruptor…cuz it’s spooky.
Sounds “hacker-y.”
Suddenly, superstorms break out all over the globe and meteors crash through the atmosphere smashing into cities, and punching more holes in this plot than my teenager’s socks. We (the audience) watch the alien invasion, the “drama”, the chase, the suspense…from a screen. NINETY minutes of Zoom meetings, Facetime, texts, YouTube and stock news footage clips.
*groans*
Was War of the Worlds 2025 onto…Something?
Just because War of the Worlds fumbled the play, does NOT mean the movie didn’t reveal something we storytellers can learn from. Remember, they made this movie almost five years ago.
What is now more popular than ever?
Streamers.
In my day we killed the aliens ourselves. With our own plasma rifles and sticky grenades! These kids today watch other gamers kill the aliens! What in TARNATION?
Remember earlier I said technology reshapes the brain and changes our tastes? In 2025, I actually think Screenlife would be viable with the right story.
We humans genuinely don’t know what we like…or what we may eventually grow to like. Which is why being a writer is equal parts exciting and terrifying.
For instance, who would have ever believed found footage would have even been a thing until The Blair Witch Project? Which a lot of people hated until Paranormal Activity preserved what was excellent about the idea…and simply removed the need for Dramamine.
Which makes my point.
Found footage immerses us SO MUCH it is excellent for horror. But, add in a FIFTH wall, and there is enough emotional distancing to laugh.
A LOT.
Technology Shapes Storytelling
Yes, throughout history, technology has shaped and reshaped storytelling (VIDEO GAMES anyone?). War of the Worlds 2025 revealed both the limitations and opportunities of storytelling via digital screens.
As streaming and parasocial entertainment (e.g., Twitch, YouTube, VTubers) rise, using “fifth wall” techniques could theoretically work, but execution must account for audience psychology.
Audiences will always crave novelty, but poorly executed innovation alienates rather than immerses. This is where human intuition is priceless.
Sure AI can create the “perfect” story from a technical perspective, but we humans love messy. Perfect is boring and—especially after the Terminator movies—we aren’t too thrilled about our computers being emo.
Despite technical ambition, War of the Worlds 2025 proved that human intuition, humor, and risk-taking are essential for meaningful storytelling. What can creators specifically take away?
Clarity of medium matters: New formats (like Screenlife) should enhance, not obstruct, emotional engagement.
Audience psychology is central: Too much distancing results in detachment; balance immersion with accessibility.
Innovation requires iteration: Even failed experiments reveal future opportunities — this format may thrive in comedy or parody rather than drama.
Technology alone isn’t enough: Tools evolve, but audiences still rely on writers and storytellers to make sense of them.
In the End….
For all its flaws, War of the Worlds 2025 is a reminder that even failed experiments push the boundaries of storytelling.
Technology will continue to reshape how we tell and consume stories, but it’s human intuition, humor, and risk-taking that make them matter. And that is something no algorithm—or alien—can replace.
The movie showed us what doesn’t work, hinted at what could, and gave us comedy gold along the way. Maybe Orson Welles is haunting Amazon after all, but if so, at least he’s laughing.
What are your thoughts?
Do you think AI will ever nail messy, human storytelling—or will it always feel a little “too perfect”? What’s one new storytelling trend (good or bad) you’ve noticed since the pandemic? What’s the worst “so-bad-it’s-good” movie you’ve ever seen? Do you think Screenlife films (everything on a computer screen) could ever actually work, or are they doomed to flop?
Since I could never do justice to just how bad this movie is, this is the video that convinced me to take a chance and watch. Pointlesshub is one of Spawn’s great finds. It’s a bit long, but it’s hilarious and breaks apart the story just brilliantly! But don’t take my word for it — grab some popcorn, watch the roast, and come back here to tell me if you survived.
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Interesting blog! I need to read this one again! When I’m looking for a deep dive on films and how to tell a better story, I enjoy watching Critical Drinker. Don’t always agree with him, but he has good points. I really enjoy his “how I fix” videos. I don’t think he makes as many of those as he used to.
Author
LOL, good taste! Spawn watches Critical Drinker! Thanks for the comment (((HUGS)))
Will AI ever nail messy, human storytelling—or will it always feel a little “too perfect”?
IMHO I think it will continue to improve but my concern is that people will just assume that AI is everywhere, is unavoidable and that it is difficult to determine whether a piece uses AI or not. In the last year, AI has swept in like a tidal wave and I, for one, feel like Charlie Brown after Lucy pulled the football away. I’m afraid that too many people will just move on without too much thought about it one way or the other. We humans can be lazy about figuring things out but so many things play in to doing that ie time constraints and lack of knowledge about technology, and the overwhelming speed at which it comes at us.
Author
Very thoughtful response, and I agree. I haven’t blogged in several months because I have been doing post grad work in AI/ML. Why? Because it impacts the world, writers, publishing, everything around me and I want to understand what we are dealing with. I do worry that we are already losing so many critical skills (spelling, grammar, basic math, basic research) and AI will only make that worse. Interesting times for sure.
Nice surprise seeing your blog in my email. I’ve used an AI critique feature a few times, amazing what it comes up with in 15-20 seconds. On the other hand, I have not been impressed with AI generated fiction. The writing seems stiff and sterile to me.
Author
So lovely to see you! Apologies for being away. I have been in an accelerated post-grad program for AI and Machine Learning since February. Almost finished with it. Eager to have some fresh perspectives of how AI and writers can see any kind of future together.
I agree on the “flatness” of AI writing. I don’t know if eventually they can be trained to “sound” better because it is still mimicking feeling human instead of actually being human. I have missed you guys a LOT. Really appreciate seeing you here.
I see your Facebook shares and posts so I knew you were busy with your AI post-grad courses and not held hostage in a far off land. My wife used AI for busy writing and was pleased with the results after feeding in pertinent data she wanted included. I use a program that offers suggested rewrites for awkward sentences. On rare occasions I try it, the rewrite suggestion is just as awkward, in my opinion, as the crap I just wrote. I hate to say, “my voice”, too many writers say, “I don’t want to lose my voice,” as a reason for not improving their prose, but I estimate up 80% of the AI generated rewrites sounds different from the narrative voice. I admit it might be my imagination and someone reading a few pages might not detect the AI sentences, even if used every two or three paragraphs.
Author
I like AI for organizing my thoughts. I can mind dump everything then the AI helps me sort the chaos.
I meant to say, My wife used AI for business writing. I don’t think she’d like me calling it busy writing. Maybe I should use AI before replying to posts.
Worst “so bad it’s good” movie: Plan 9 From Outer Space.
I think an instance of this storytelling technique done right is the movie Missing (2023). The main character finds her mom by searching online and using various apps/social media and the audience can see her computer screen. I haven’t watched War of Worlds 2025 because I heard how bad it was!