Mars Attacks! (1996)

nTitle: Mars Attacks! (1996)

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nDirector: Tim Burton

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nCast: Pam Grier, Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, AnnettenBening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker,nMichael J. Fox, Tom Jones, Jim Brown, Lukas Haas, Natalie Portman, Lisa Marie

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nReview:

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nBack in 1994, Tim Burton directed Ed Wood, a film that paysnloving homage to science fiction and horror film director Edward Wood Jr., andirector better known as ‘the worst director who ever lived’. One look at hisnmovies and you’ll agree, Ed Wood wasn’t the best filmmaker in the world. Butnany film buff will tell ya that all the things that make a film like Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957) a ‘bad movie’ are the very same elements that make it ancompletely watchable film. I like seeing those strings hanging from the toy flyingnsaucers, I like seeing the set falling apart as the actors walk through it, Inlike those random scenes of Bela Lugosi doing things that had nothing to donwith the story, I liked the unnecessary, yet wildly entertaining voice over.nThese are the elements that give Plan 9 From Outer Space its charm, becauseneven through all that, at its core, there’s a message, it says something, it’sngood intentions cannot be ignored. It’s in that spirit that Tim Burton madenMars Attacks!, a film that Ed Wood would have made himself if he was still alivenand had 70 million dollars to spare.

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nMars Attacks begins in the dark recesses of space, as wenfollow an armada of thousands of Martian spaceships headed directly towardsnearth. We are then presented with the many characters that we’ll follow throughoutnthe movie, characters who will no doubt converge at some point in the story. Sonwe get Louise Williams (Pamela Grier) a bus driver and stern mother of two. Wenget Byron Williams (Jim Brown) an ex-boxer who is trying to get back with hisnwife and kids before the Martians attack. We get Jack Nicholson playing twonroles, one as the president of the United States, and another as angambler/empresario whose looking to open up his new hotel and casino, which bynthe way looks like a giant flying saucer. Basically, we meet a bunch ofncharacters all living different lifestyles, who have to deal with the fact thatnthese Martians do not come in peace, they come to take over! They’ve come tonattack! Is humanity doomed to destruction by little green men?

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nI watched Mars Attacks in theaters way back in ’96 when itnwas first released and I remember feeling really strange after seeing it. I’dnseen it with my parents and I remember them saying something like “I don’t feelnlike I saw a movie”. My reaction was a bit different. I remember thinking itnwas undoubtedly a strange movie and I remember leaving the theater with thisnweird feeling of ‘what did I just watch?’ But I also couldn’t deny I hadnenjoyed it. I like Tim Burton when he does films like this one, films where hendoesn’t give a crap what anybody is going to think, he just does what he findsnentertaining, which is often times goofy and offbeat. I mean, can you deny thatnBeetlejuice (1986) is one of the weirdest movies you ever saw? No you can’t;nbut you can’t deny that it’s quite entertaining either. Sadly, Burton isn’tnmaking films like these anymore, right now, his films play it safe. Thoughnrecently, Frankenweenie (2012) did manage to bring back some of that old Burtonnweirdness I love so much, I miss the old Tim Burton, the one who would wallownin his weirdness. I haven’t seen a truly risky Tim Burton film in a long while.nI wish he’d do it more often; Burton works best when he does his own thing, leftnto his own devices. Mars Attack has that feeling going for it. It’s a film thatnisn’t afraid to go all the way bonkers. This is a big budget film that’s purposelynshowing its b-movie sensibilities, which of course spells awesome for me.

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nHow bonkers is this movie? Well, for starters the movie isnbased on a series of Topps trading cards composed of 55 trading cards that camenout circa 1962. These little cards would show gruesome depictions of Martians eradicatingnthe human race. These might be little trading cards that fit into the palm ofnyour hand, but they sure packed lots of gruesomeness! So much so that Topps hadnto cancel the trading cards out of public outcry! So these cards had an edge! Indon’t think they were entirely aimed at kids, though I’m sure it was the kidsnthat bought them. The film retains some of that gruesomeness without going inton‘R’ territory. This is why we get to see people smashing giant Martian brains,nwith green ooze slipping out and Martians doing all sorts of weird experiments onnhumans; like giving Sarah Jessica Parker the body of a Chihuahua, so these Martiansnhave a meanness to them! The cards also had a bit of a sexual vibe going for themnwhich on the film translated to Martians checking out playboy magazine. Thenfilm retains the spirit of the cards, sometimes while watching the movie you’llnfeel like you’re watching a snapshot coming straight from the Topps cardnseries. 

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nAnother element that makes the movie interesting is thatnalmost everyone is famous in one form of another! This is a star studded castnfilled with cameos left and right. Thing is that most of these cameos arenextended, they aren’t five minute cameos. Instead, you get to see quite a bitnof each of the actors who appear on the film. I liked that about it, we go fromnJack Blacks white thrash family, to Michael J. Fox’s stale marriage to SarahnJessica Parker, to the President of the United States deciding if he should  nuke the Martians or not. It’s one of thosenmovies with a lot of stories going on, but at some point they all comentogether. Jack Nicholson is absolutely amazing here as a businessman/gangsterncalled Art Land, “I’m not a crook, I’m ambitious, there’s a difference!” He’snthis sleazy drunkard who wants to open a new hotel; boy Nicholson really gotninto that character! He made me laugh on a regular basis, I was surprised tonsee him so game in a movie of this nature. Even Tom Jones shows up to kick somenMartian ass! Natalie Portman plays the president’s daughter in one of hernearliest roles, it’s always fun to see artists who have become great (like Portman) doing their earliest stuff. Here we also get to see Jack Black taking his first baby steps as an actor. 

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nTim Burton’s always displayed an admiration for stopnmotion animation, his first short ever was a stop motion animated featurencalled ‘Vincent’. Burton’s also produced and directed various stop animationnfilms like Nightmare Before Christmas, The Corpse Bride and most recently Frankenweenie, so it didn’tnsurprise me when I found out that Burton originally wanted to bring the Martiansnto life through the use of stop motion animation Unfortunately, the studio wanted to cutndown the budget of the film so stop motion animation was eliminated from the project, plus, the special effects crew convinced Burton they could pull theneffects off with computers, so Burton went with the CGI. Gotta wonder what thenfilm would have been like had Burton used stop motion animation. So anyways,noverall, with this kind of film you either get it or you don’t, it’s a love itnor hate it movie. If you love 50’s science fiction films, trading cards, comicnbooks, and the plain bizarre side of life, chances are you’ll get this movie. Thenrest of the world just won’t get it, which is probably why this filmnunderperformed at the box office.  Itndidn’t lose money, but it didn’t make a significant profit either. But whoncares about all that noise, the movie is fun times. At its core is an anti-warnmessage: while fear mongers want to nuke the hell out of the Martians, thenhumble people of the world want to save the earth by other peaceful means. Inhighly recommend Mars Attacks! to those who enjoy a good laugh.

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nRating: 4 out 5

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