'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.