'Mars Attacks!' recalls long lost humor of Hollywood

'Mars Attacks!' recalls long lost humor of Hollywood

By Bret Galloway

JAKARTA (JP): The Martians in Tim Burton's latest movie Mars
Attacks! may fail to conquer the earth with their flashy ray
guns, but they do win us over with the lovable way they dispose,
and make fools, of humans.

Throughout the film, they display a puckish sense of humor
which always shines brighter, even through their malevolence,
than does the dull-witted, complacent plodding of the human race.
Most of the humans portrayed are shallow, superficial blowhards
and the Martians seem to take even more pleasure in bursting
people's bubbles of vanity than in vaporizing them. The Martians
may be bad, but their virtue is that they never pretend that they
are otherwise.

This kitschy, camp comedy is a tongue-in-cheek cross between
Terry Gilliam, Andy Warhol and Quentin Tarantino all wrapped up
in an expensive B-grade dress. On the surface, the lighting,
sets, characters and special effects all recall the cheap sci-fi
films that invaded movie theaters in the late fifties and early
sixties. However, at a cost of US$80 million, this piece of
celluloid points to anything but sequins, rhinestones or tinsel.

One high-cost item is the special effects. The idea for the
story came from a serendipitous find by screenwriter Jonathan
Gems, who came across a collection of old Topps Mars Attacks!
bubble gum cards which depicted Martians invading earth. In fact,
Burton wanted his Martians to look like the ones on the cards and
he originally tried to use old-fashioned animation to create
them, thinking that this would prove truer to the feel of the
Topps cards. The process proved too time-consuming and expensive,
however, and the studio finally convinced him to use computer-
generation instead.

Another big-ticket item is the star-studded cast with the
likes of Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Danny De
Vito, Pierce Brosnan and Michael J. Fox, not to mention a slew of
out-of-the past ghosts like Rod Steiger, Jim Brown and even Tom
Jones. In keeping with the subtle allusions of the film, the
pantheon of names brings to mind the star-packed disaster
extravaganzas of Irwin Allen in the 1970s, something we are meant
to recall and laugh along with.

Better than getting a chance to see all of this talent in one
movie, though, is the unusual pleasure of watching every one of
them, save for Bening and Jones, get zapped by the Martians. Face
it, how often do we see our Hollywood "heroes" snuff it? But
don't worry, none of the actors take themselves seriously in this
film, and we can't take their deaths to heart either.

Those expecting something along the same vein as Burton's
Batman flicks will be confused and disappointed. Neither is it as
frenetic as his Beetlejuice or as weirdly sentimental as Edward
Scissorhands. Although dealing with alien invasion, the film is
closer to his first big hit Pee-wee's Great Adventure than it is
to Independence Day, and in true Burton style, it is a movie that
works on several levels.

First of all, it is a social commentary aimed partly at
humanity in general, but more specifically at the cultural myths
and searchings of Americans. Indeed, the most balanced, normal
characters, the real heroes of the movie are the minor ones such
as the president's daughter, the single black mother or Joe Don
Baker's teenage son, all of whom strive to be nothing but who
they are.

Mars Attacks! is also a fond, if irreverent, look back on the
Hollywood many of us, including Burton, grew up on: the Hollywood
that existed before the "men in suits" took over, the Hollywood
that could still afford to take chances, follow fancies or just
have fun.

And fun is what Mars Attacks! is all about. It doesn't set a
technological record, it doesn't purport to be an action movie or
an uproarious comedy. It's about the fun of watching wickedly
funny Martians do battle with self-satisfied humans who in the
end are not saved by their intelligence, their science or their
bravery, but by the gratings of a very annoying piece of old
American country music. In other words, it is the dearth of
America's cultural substance that defeats them, not its wealth.

Even this lesson, though, is lightly treated and never
succeeds in detracting from the larger silliness. Some of the
jokes are particular to America, but many others are situational
and easily translatable. And even though the humor may sometimes
slip past unnoticed, there is always the sheer joy of watching
the Martians pull pranks on humans or perform experiments on
them, such as taking talk-show host (Sarah Jessica Parker)
Natalie's irritating lap dog and putting its head on her body and
her head on its body.

Although not as brilliant a social comedy as Kubrick's Dr.
Strangelove, Mars Attacks! is still good fun and easy on the
eyes. See it and let your sense of humor be invaded.