That some director's can stamp their own distinctive style on a film is unquestionable and possibly the biggest exponent of this in recent years is Tim Burton. Even amidst the production line style that typifies the output of Hollywood these days, Burton still just has that wicked little streak of dark humour, and while other director's battle to make an impact, Timmy (as we may refer to him from here on in, I haven't decide yet) always injects his own look and feel. Even such mediocre efforts as Planet of The Apes just FEEL like a Burton movie (even if they are crap). Is any of this relevant? Do we even care anymore? Oh sod it, let's get on with the review.
When a Martian delegation sends a message to the people of Earth, the whole world gazes skywards and wonders about our nearest neighbours. The scientists are ecstatic, the military nervous, and the President has to weigh up whether or not this meeting will do his popularity rating any good or not. Following several rather disastrous meetings, it becomes obvious that the little green men (for that is what they are) are not the peace loving hyper intelligent species that was hoped for...they just want to trash the Earth.
The story underpinning Mars Attacks is pretty thin to say the least but perhaps there are reasons for that. I'm not however going to say that what it has story wise is bad though - as it isn't.
The age old questions of what a first encounter with alien life forms would be like, what Martians are like, and how the people of Earth would respond to such things can be handled in several ways. There's the slushy, drippy approach used by Star Trek and then there's the entertaining way. Mars Attacks most definitely tries for the later. You can forget 'intelligent' contact and life altering swapping of ideas, an instead get ready for a blast of 50's ray guns and wildly overblown characters.
Based on the trading card series of the...err...sometime in the past, Mars Attacks pays homage to the drive in movie generation and does so at the expense of scientific 'fact'. But in all actuality, who actually wants scientific fact? Mars Attacks sets out to entertain us and that's what it does. The garish colours, cartoon-esque characters and visuals are all hugely reminiscent of the B movie twaddle that flooded the movie market in the 50's and 60's and anyone who's seen such tripe as Earth vs The Flying Saucers or Attack of The Saucermen will know exactly what to expect. It even manages to have a typically 'lucky' ending that is just one more in the long line of 'lucky' endings that started waaaaay back with Wells' The War of The Worlds.
For all it's homage though, Mars Attacks is some what weak in the story department. It's characters never develop and it has an overall sense of the two dimensional. A good thing or a bad thing? Depends on what you're looking for. As to why it has a somewhat weak storyline, then you only have to look at the cast list...if you can ever finish it.
Like so many of the disaster movies of the 70's, Mars Attacks has a gargantuan cast and it's this that trips it up. I'll come back to the individual actors later but the film is simply too full of stars. By being forced to give each 'name' their five minutes of fame and a little scene that they can call their own, the film simply runs out of space to develop it's story - exactly like the 70's efforts. With little stories happening all over the place, the overall thrust of the story is unable to develop and it's this that gives the film an overall feeling of being lost.
Jack Nicholson takes on a dual role as the president and Vegas entrepreneur Art Land and he's good at both actually. Glenn Close is ...actually, I WON'T go through the whole cast as it would be a complete and utter waste of time. Suffice to say that the cast do a good job and there are some great little turns that manage to standout from the crowd. Brosnan and Parker are wonderfully air-headed together, Lisa Marie is deliciously over the top (just as in Ed Wood), and Tom Jones proves that singers aren't movie stars. That sounds cruel but Jones is out of his depth here and it shows.
That this is a Tim Burton film is without question and although it may not be as shadow drenched as Batman it does have that special undercurrent running throughout. The look and feel of the film is overblown and exaggerated and here Mars Attacks scores big time. As a spectacle, Burton creates a great film but it lacks the story and development to make it a great film. There are a few back stabbing lines and scenes that poke fun at various aspects of the (then) news but this is not what Mars Attacks sets out to do.
It's a film that tries to capture the 'kew-l' quality of the original trading cards and it does that well. That there is no story is pretty much by the by. Like a comic book come to life, Mars Attacks is bold, brash and tears along at a frenetic pace. Even if one story does slow though, we switch to another before we can ever get bored. Like channel surfing though that makes it difficult for us to get really involved though and we're right back at the door of the 70's disaster genre again.
The effects are great fun and there's a definite sense of humour that permeates the entire visual look of the film. The Martians are brought to life wonderfully and the CGi wizards were obviously kept very busy bringing this one to life.
Is it worth watching? My instant reaction is to say 'No'. It's not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination but it's certainly not a great film (and you might be pushing it to even say good). You get drawn in by the novelty factor at first but once that's gone, Mars Attacks manages to become dull and boring despite all of the effects and action going on. It becomes somewhat tiresome and after you've seen the Martians nuke one city, then what next? This is ultimately what makes us dislike it as we end up looking for the next 'big' scene only to have it fizzle out or not impress enough. We aren't blown away and although we watch just to try and catch some little inside joke or visual gag, we end up realising that it's not going to happen and we're bored.
Burton has made some great films over the years and will no doubt wow us for years to come but Mars Attacks isn't a great example of the man. If you loved Ed Wood or Batman, you'll be disappointed. Will anyone enjoy it? Hmm, tricky. The Nintendo generation will find that their 2 second attention span is well catered for but anyone who is looking for more than a seemingly endless parade of big guns and flashy explosions will soon find it to be a switch off
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Weak
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Mars Attacks [1997]
It's enlightening to view Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! as his twisted satire of the
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blockbuster film Independence Day, which was released earlier the same year, although the movies were in production simultaneously. Burton's eye-popping, schlock tribute ...
Mars Attacks [1997]
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blockbuster film Independence Day, which was released earlier the same year, although the movies were in production simultaneously. Burton's eye-popping, schlock tribute ...
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