MARS ATTACKS!
A film review by P-M Agapow
Copyright 1997 P-M Agapow
A fleet of flying saucers had set off from Mars and surrounded Earth. The President (Nicholson) wants to greet them with open arms, reassured by his chief scientist's (Brosnan) claims that every advanced civilisation is peaceful. His chief of the armed forces (Steiger) seethes anger, asking for a pre-emptive strike. Those little green guys just can't be trusted.
"Mars Attacks" came out too close on the tail of "In-duh-pendence Day" for the former to be intended to be a send up of the latter. But that's what it is, a boisterous celebration of all the cliches of oldtime (and not so old) scifi, with angst-torn Presidents, intrepid reporters, gun-nuts, peacenik scientists, whooping and creaking "electronic tonalities" by Danny Elfman and of course the sadistic, treacherous Martians. At times the film even has that bleached out, over-exposed look of an 50's SF film.
The Martians are a pure delight. Conversing in a strange honking language, with bulbous and veiny skulls, exploding in a shower of green ichor, they cheat, they lie, they gleefully run riot with rayguns (with deathbeams of two different colours, no less), monotonally chanting stock phrases: "Don't run away - we are your friends". Their computer animation is a triumph - it may not look realistic (come on - dayglo little green men in blue suits?) but it is very effective. They twitch and sneer and cry and laugh, in a completely expressive way. Their tinny flying saucers and gothic interiors are also wonderful.
"Mars Attacks" is loaded, even over-loaded, with name actors of whom some do amazingly good work for such a silly movie. Jack Nicholson acts for perhaps the first time in years, putting in a surprisingly complex portrayal of the President. Pierce Brosnan and Sarah Jessica Parker are amusing, if one note, as a pipe-puffing boffin and air-headed reporter respectively. Annette Bening confirms that she is perhaps one of the most under-valued actresses in Hollywood with her alcoholic new-ager. Rod Steiger delights as a warhawk general screaming "Attack! Attack! Kill! Kill!".
But this is perhaps where the big problem with "Mars Attacks" is: there's just too much going on with little of it getting anywhere. The opportunity to use all these big stars seems to have clouded Burton's judgement (and he is not a disciplined filmmaker at the best of times), with each getting their five minutes of screen time. Bening, delightful as she is, and Nicholson's second role (as a Vegas entrepreneur) should have been snipped altogether, as could Glen Close (in a thankless role as as the First Lady), Pam Grier and Michael J Fox. This might have given the remaining sections the development they sorely need at times.
Sometimes rushed or crowded, often batty and probably for movie and SF fans only (others are unlikely to appreciate the jokes), "Mars Attacks" would make for a great video night with the right audience, cheering it and themselves on. [***/interesting] and "coruscating beams of destruction" on the Sid and Nancy scale.
"Mars Attacks" Directed by Tim Burton Music by Danny Elfman. Starring Jack Nicholson, Glen Close, Michael J Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker,Annette Bening, Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Danny DeVito, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Jones, Lukas Haas, Lisa Marie, Martin Short, Rod Steiger, Joe Don Baker, Natalie Portman. Released 1996.
------ paul-michael agapow (agapow@latcs1.oz.au), La Trobe Uni, Infocalypse "There is no adventure, there is no romance, there is only trouble and desire."
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