Review of Mars Attacks! (1996) by Kyle20Ellis — 28 Mar 2022

While he has been hit and miss recently, I like Tim Burton. Mars Attacks! is not his best(Edward Scissorhands), but far from his worst(Planet of the Apes)- in fact Mars Attacks! gets my vote as Burton's most underrated film. Mars Attacks! is a film you love or hate really, but I like it and consider it underrated and somewhat as a guilty pleasure.

The film does have a slow start and it does take a little too long before the fun starts. What I loved about Mars Attacks! though was its smartness, fun and in some ways uniqueness. It does make the most of a bubble-gum card story, and works brilliantly as a biting satire, and is further advantaged by some excellent visuals not only in the computer-generated bug-eyed Martians but in the photography, make-up and sets, wonderfully clever sci-fi references, a smart script and a quirky score from Danny Elfman. Tim Burton's direction is also great, and the acting is all fun. While Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Pam Grier and Annette Bening are a lot of fun, the best performances come from Pierce Brosnan who is hilarious as a presidential adviser and Lisa Marie who is weird yet wonderfully creepy and seductive as the disguised alien temptress. Overall, I really enjoyed this film. It is not Burton's best, but it is better than most of the stuff he's churned out this past decade-Big Fish and Sweeney Todd are the only ones so far that had the charm and uniqueness that made me love Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Batman and Vincent so much.