Mars Attacks! Review
by Scott Mendelson (mendbgbs AT ix DOT netcom DOT com)April 21st, 1997
MARS ATTACKS!
A film review by Scott Mendelson
Copyright 1997 Scott Mendelson
1996
103 MIN.
rated "PG-13"
(extreme stylized death and destruction, brief gore, slight profanity)
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring:
Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Benning, Pierce Brosnan Jim Brown, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lucas Haas, Natalie Portman Tom Jones, Sylvia Sidney, Rod Steiger, Paul Winfield,
Martin Short, Michael J. Fox, Danny Devito, Joe Don Baker,
Pam Grier, Lisa Marie, Jack Nicholson, The Martians
This article should probably be taken with a grain of salt due to the fact that I believe Tim Burton to be a God among men, incapable of error and my idol in the filmmaking world.
"Ack-Ack-Ack-Ack!" translation: Mars Attacks! is not only the funniest film of 1996(but, for artistic merit, Fargo is tops for 96), but the funniest film that I've seen since Airplane!! It's a terrific mixture of top-notch writing and acting, THE best computer animation I have ever seen, and, best of all, a healthy dose of VERY macabre bad taste.
After thousands of martian ships are spotted surrounding Earth, the President(Jack Nicholson), the First Lady(Glenn Close), the scientist(Pierce Brosnan), the press secretary(Martin Short), and the generals(Rod Steiger and Paul Winfield) try to decide what to do. Brosnan and Winfield suggest a peaceful welcome while Steiger suggests they declare war on these bug-eyed, big brained "things". An official meeting is set up in a desert, several of the martians step out to greet the thousands of on-lookers, and they declare that they come in peace. At this point, they whip out their ray guns and take out hundreds of earthlings, including several of the big stars.
In fact, one of the main pleasures of this epic is the growing realization that few of your favorite stars are going to make it to the end credits. This being a Tim Burton film, the survivors consists of those whose standing in society is lesser. While politicians and entrepreneurs are blown to bits, a down on his luck boxer and a southern kid, who rush to save their grandmothers, live. As usual, Burton sides with the outsiders. We love him for it.
Be warned, this is a very, very sick movie. Millions of innocent people die horrible deaths: men, women, children(a group of cub scouts in one really funny but twisted scene), none are spared! And yes, unlike ID4, this flick has the guts to kill animals! And, again, unlike ID4, where popcorn was thrown at my head for doing so, you can root for the aliens, because Burton is rooting for them too.
Technically, the martians look great. With greenish-blue skin tone, bulging eyes, and huge brains, they don't speak English, they do understand when earthlings talk. They speak in some kind of gibberish, and Earth uses a translator to communicate with them: "ACK, ACK, ACK, ACK, ACK!" translation: "We Come in Peace!"
The best thing about this film is that, unlike most invasion flicks, where they just feel like props, the aliens actually have a personality. The FX are so convincing, and the invaders are so unique in nature that the martians become full-blown characters. The martians are not truly evil, but fiendish little pranksters who basically set out to destroy the Earth because it'll be a fun way to kill a weekend(pun intended). They actually take time to enjoy the mayhem while performing demented experiments on those poor earthlings(wait till you see what happens to Pierce Brosnan and Sarah Jessica Parker) and destroying many a famous landmark(the Easter Island statues, the Eiffel Tower, etc.) with glee. At times, they seem to be like a distant cousin to the Gremlins, but a lot smarter.
While the film's first 40 minutes introduces its many human characters and thus, is occasionally dull(grade: C+) the last hour is pure "Burton-ion" craziness(A+++). And although I wanted the martians to triumph, the way that the martians finally meet their doom is one of the decade's best gags(and certainly more creative than ID4's: "let's give them a computer virus" snore). While obviously not for all tastes, the film has probably got the most creative way ever for disposing of a hydrogen bomb. A+
Note: Despite my many objections, it may be worth noting that I did enjoy Independence Day as fun, slick, big-budget, garbage. But Ronald Emmerich is no Tim Burton.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
