Never Watch "War of the Worlds" with Ice Cube — Worst Film of 2025

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Every year a film emerges that audiences and critics unanimously label the worst. In 2025, this title is confidently claimed by the new "War of the Worlds" — a screenlife format version starring Ice Cube and Eva Longoria.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a devastating 3% fresh rating. There's less logic here than special effects.

What the movie's about

H.G. Wells' classic novel gets transformed into a story where viewers watch the Martian invasion through the computer screen of Homeland Security employee Will Radford (Ice Cube).
Actor and rapper Ice Cube wearing glasses, on the right a photo of an iron creature with three legs
Stills from "War of the Worlds" (2025)
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He's trying to save kids, figure out the invasion, and accidentally uncovers a government conspiracy. Meanwhile, the film constantly interrupts itself with Amazon "integrations," turning the apocalypse into an online shopping showcase.

10 reasons why this movie is terrible

  • It's a 90-minute Amazon commercial. The company gets mentioned more than the aliens.
  • Logic doesn't exist. The internet works during an invasion, school-age hackers take down tripods, and the government caused the whole disaster.
  • Ice Cube's performance. The actor limits himself to grimaces and loud yelling, turning drama into unintentional comedy.
  • Plot soup. Invasion, government conspiracy, family drama, and genius-kid storylines all blended into one messy stream.
  • Screenlife format gone wrong. The format makes everything static — viewers spend hours watching Zoom calls and browser tabs.
  • Faceless aliens. The Martians look like blurry pixels, and their "power" amounts to deleting social media photos.
  • Cookie-cutter characters. Gamer-hacker, smart biologist daughter, Amazon delivery guy who shows up with a flash drive at just the right moment.
  • Ridiculous dialogue. The U.S. President actually says: "Let's start this war of the worlds already."
  • Shot like a music video. Director Rich Lee previously made clips for Maroon 5 — and it shows. The film feels like a stretched-out music video.
  • Critics are ruthless. Rolling Stone and RogerEbert.com call it "AI work" and a "cinematic crime."

What viewers are saying

On forums and in reviews, viewers aren't holding back: "Worst movie of the decade," "Plot sucks, special effects are worse than high school projects," "They should pay me to watch this." Many are convinced War of the Worlds is a top contender for the Razzie Awards.
"War of the Worlds" (2025) Trailer

Should you watch it?

Short answer — no. This War of the Worlds shows how a great concept can turn into complete chaos. But if you're curious to see Amazon save humanity from Martians, Prime Video's got you covered. Everyone else should just reread Wells or rewatch Spielberg's version. Earlier, we at zoomboola.com covered why you absolutely must watch "The Pitt," which was named the best series of 2025 by the TCA Awards.