MARS ATTACKS!
A film review by Chuck Dowling
Copyright 1996 Chuck Dowling
Mars Attacks! (1996) ***** out of ***** - C:Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Martin Short, Danny DeVito, Rod Steiger, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Joe Don Baker, Natalie Portman, Christina Applegate, Lisa Marie, Tom Jones.
This is director Tim Burton's finest film to date. Many will compare this tale of Martians who invade Earth to Independence Day, but even though the stories are similar, they really are two distinctly different films. However as a whole, Mars Attacks is much more entertaining than ID4, and I loved ID4.
You really have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy this film. It is completely wacked-out and unlike anything you've ever seen. Once the silly tone of the film is set, it's easy to just sit back and throw logic out the window because logic and comedy just don't mix.
The plot is simple: Martians invade the Earth. But it's different than any other invasion film. Usually it's the evil aliens versus the heroic humans. This time however, it's the goofy aliens versus the equally goofy humans. The Martians, who are all computer generated, are just about the funniest things I've seen in a long time. They look funny, they move funny, and their "language" is hilarious.
And about the special effects. The effects in Mars Attacks! are just about the most flawless ones I've seen to date. The computer animation of the martians combined with the goofy personalities they are given makes them seem 100% real.
There are just a couple of scenes that don't work, mainly those involving Sarah Jessica Parker and Pierce Brosnan on board an alien ship. Also, Glenn Close overacts tremendously in her (thankfully) very limited screen time, so much so that I actually applauded silently when her character meets her demise. But there are many big laughs in the film, as I said, if you are in the right mood. Could it have been funnier? Certainly. Was it funny enough? Yes. Was I entertained? Absolutely.
On a personal note, I'd like to thank whomever cast Rod Steiger (my favorite actor) in the film as war-crazy General Decker. Finally, after many very small parts in direct to video garbage and minor TV roles, Steiger is back on the big screen in a real movie that many people will see. While he's not given the type of role that you can give a real "performance" in, he does the job well and has some good lines of dialogue. The preview audience I saw the film with really seemed to enjoy him.
-- Chuck Dowling Visit Chuck's Movie Reviews at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ Over 1,600 movies rated and/or reviewed! Movie news, box office reports, film related links, and reader's polls and reviews.
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