Tim Burton takes an A-list cast including Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Natalie Portman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jack Black in an early role, Rod Steiger, Michael J. Fox and several others and attempts to send up the cheap, campy science fiction movies of the 50 and 60s. I think he watched too many Ed Wood movies and had this idea spring forth fully formed from his forehead.
Martians attack the earth, pretend to be friendly and then start zapping earthlings and wreaking destruction far and wide. My favorite part: When the martians get the translator machine and carry it around with them shouting, do not run, we are your friends, while simultaneously zapping everyone they see. It's campy and clichéd as was intended. The question is though, what makes a spoof of something superior to what it is spoofing? This movie is like green jello with shaved carrots made in a mold to resemble a clover and served at an upscale party to mock the parochial bourgeois of the midwest and Utah. Everyone has a good laugh and samples a bit to understand what it means to have such poor taste. But all said and done, it is still green jello with carrots shaved into it, and it's not that good and it is midwest potluck food (I've lived near Des Moines and Salt Lake City and know plenty about jello) and although done in the spirit of mockery or spoof, doesn't taste any better than the real thing which wasn't that good to begin with. 5/10
Martians attack the earth, pretend to be friendly and then start zapping earthlings and wreaking destruction far and wide. My favorite part: When the martians get the translator machine and carry it around with them shouting, do not run, we are your friends, while simultaneously zapping everyone they see. It's campy and clichéd as was intended. The question is though, what makes a spoof of something superior to what it is spoofing? This movie is like green jello with shaved carrots made in a mold to resemble a clover and served at an upscale party to mock the parochial bourgeois of the midwest and Utah. Everyone has a good laugh and samples a bit to understand what it means to have such poor taste. But all said and done, it is still green jello with carrots shaved into it, and it's not that good and it is midwest potluck food (I've lived near Des Moines and Salt Lake City and know plenty about jello) and although done in the spirit of mockery or spoof, doesn't taste any better than the real thing which wasn't that good to begin with. 5/10