MARS ATTACKS! (1996)

MARS ATTACKS! (1996)

Tagline:  Nice planet. We'll take it!

(Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi) [PG-13]

I bet you're psyched about the Martians coming Grandma? I mean, you've seen a lot of crazy stuff already. Everyone must have been real scared when they invented the train!

In this one, we have one of the most simplistic plots ever. Martians land on earth and they are freakin ready to put dismember people (goofy sci-fi style), place their body parts back on the wrong bodies, or just leave their heads floating around, shoot people and turn them into red or green skeletons, blow up Donut World and wreak as much havoc as possible. All this is hysterically done while espousing peace and telling people not to run. Just like when Pizza Hut* was trying to kill us all with those damn stuffed crust pizzas. 

First off whenever Tim Burton is involved in directing a movie, you pretty much know that you are going to get something with some crazy design work. MARS ATTACKS!  is no exception. The aliens in this thing are freakin bonkers looking. Like half-sized humans with skulls that have giant brains attached. This movie is loaded with really fun action sequences and over the top dialog. 

Acting-wise they loaded the bases getting tons of big-name actors for that time and now, even more, are well known. Jack Black and Natalie Portman for instance are both in this but were not well known at the time, in fact, Portman wasn’t cast in STAR WARS EPISODE 1 till 3 years later. Both had relatively little screen time. Jack Nicholson plays both President James Dale and a sleazy Vegas casino owner named Art Land. I mean, this thing has Pam Grier best known for JACKIE BROWN and a billion other movies. Jim Brown from THE RUNNING MAN, Pierce Brosnan famous for being 007, Sarah Jessica Parker, Christina Applegate, and more. Because the movie was a spoof of 1950’s sci-fi and a comedy basically inspired by TOPPS cards, the dialog and storyline were not strong points. We get introductions to all the characters, but we aren’t given enough background on any of them to care. It should also be noted this was the last theatrical release that Michael J. Fox was in. 

Cinematically  I actually liked the pace of this thing. It does take a bit to get going, but once it does it’s just all bonkers all the time. This thing is wonderful to look at if you like total nonsense. There is just enough cheese to tell we are dealing with a comedy and the fact that almost all the Martians say is Ack, Ack, comes across as less annoying than it does comedic genius. 

Having said all that, this movie is not without issues “not” involving dialog. A lot of the storylines simply disappear, and the ending itself is a rip off of ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES, just done in a cooler way. There are also probably too many big names in this to get any real focus on a few of them outside of President Dale and we don’t really learn much about him. Because this is a spoof, however, not much of what’s missing mattered to me enough to kill this movie regarding my rating. 

For these reasons and just the overall fun, weirdness, out of the box crazy, and the fact that this was a love letter to movies, I loved from the 50’s I have to give it a 4 out of 7. It’s not the best spoof ever, but it’s pretty entertaining….and weird. Don’t forget weird. 

*Settle down Pizza Hut almost everyone loves you.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF WARNER BROS. AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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