Subject: REVIEW: MARS ATTACKS! (1996)

From: [email-masked] (Scott Mendelson)
Date: 21 Apr 1997 17:26:46 GMT

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.