The movie has been universally panned by critics as a poor adaptation of the original novel and a feature-length advertisement for Amazon.

None of the 20 reviews listed for War of the Worlds on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a positive score, and the fan-generated Popcornmeter only comes out slightly better at 18%. 50 Cent posted the following to Instagram upon seeing headlines about how poorly this sci-fi flick has been received (edited for grammar and clarity):

Among the most interesting storylines around a new movie’s release is how critics and fans feel right out of the gate. This is why the interest around early returns from sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic are always noteworthy.