Mars Attacks! – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Mars Attacks!

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie1996Comedy, Sci-Fi

38%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Tim Burton's chaotic alien invasion comedy where Martians gleefully zap everyone into skeletons—weird, dark, and honestly kind of exhausting.

6.4/10

55%

53%

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Mars Attacks!

movie

PG-13, 1996, Comedy, Sci-Fi

38%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Tim Burton's chaotic alien invasion comedy where Martians gleefully zap everyone into skeletons—weird, dark, and honestly kind of exhausting.

6.4

55%

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6.4/10

55%

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Screenwise Verdict

Mars Attacks! is Tim Burton doing his quirky, dark comedy thing—Martians with giant brains invade Earth and gleefully vaporize everyone into skeletons. It's visually creative and intentionally absurd, but the relentless cartoonish violence (people exploding, heads swapped, the President killed) makes it a rough watch for younger kids.

The bigger problem? It's just kind of boring by 2025 standards. The pacing drags, the jokes land inconsistently, and the whole thing feels like a relic of the 1990s. Teens who love Burton's style or appreciate absurdist satire might get something out of it, but most modern kids will check out halfway through.

It's not unwatchable, but it's also not a strong recommendation unless your family is specifically into weird, dark comedies. The WISE score reflects that it's imaginative but lacks warmth, safety, or much enrichment—and the dated vibe makes it hard to enthusiastically recommend in 2025.

Age Fit

Common Sense Media says 13+, and that's about right. Younger kids will be freaked out or bored; older teens who appreciate absurdist humor and Burton's weird aesthetic might enjoy it, but it's a niche taste. Adults who remember the 1990s might have nostalgia, but it hasn't aged gracefully.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Tim Burton's parody of 1950s sci-fi films is intentionally chaotic and mean-spirited. The Martians gleefully vaporize humans (including the President), disintegrate people into skeletons, and swap heads on bodies. The tone is dark comedy, not warm or cooperative. Characters die suddenly and often for laughs. It's satire, but it models cruelty as humor.

Imaginative

Burton's visual style is distinctive—stop-motion Martians with bulbous brains, ray guns that turn people into colored skeletons, absurdist gags like the Martian disguised as a sexy woman. The premise of hostile aliens with a twisted sense of humor invites creative thinking about first contact gone wrong. It's weird and original, even if it's a pastiche of B-movies.

Safe

Common Sense Media rates it 13+, and that tracks. Constant cartoonish violence: people explode into skeletons, heads get severed and swapped, bodies crushed. A dog's head is grafted onto a woman's body. The President is killed. There's some mild language and sexual innuendo. It's played for laughs, but younger kids will find it disturbing or scary. Not graphic gore, but relentless death played as comedy.

Enriching

As satire of Cold War paranoia and 1950s alien invasion movies, it has some cultural-historical value for older teens who get the references. The absurdist humor might spark conversations about war, propaganda, and how we respond to the unknown. But it's mostly spectacle—the characters are thin caricatures, and the moral is basically 'humanity is doomed and ridiculous.' Limited takeaways beyond laughing at the chaos.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Burton's signature visual style: stop-motion Martians with bulbous brains and retro ray guns are genuinely creative
Absurdist satire of 1950s B-movies and Cold War paranoia—if your teen gets the references, it's clever
Dark comedy that doesn't take itself seriously; everyone dies and it's played for laughs
Star-studded cast (Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Natalie Portman) hamming it up in a campy romp

⚠

What to Watch For

Constant cartoonish violence: people vaporized into skeletons, heads severed and swapped, bodies crushed—all played for laughs but potentially disturbing
The pacing drags and the humor is hit-or-miss; modern kids may find it boring or confusing
Some mild language and sexual innuendo (Martian disguised as a sexy woman)
The whole vibe is mean-spirited chaos—not a feel-good watch

Conversation Starters

"Why do you think the movie makes all the death and destruction funny instead of scary?"
"If aliens actually showed up, how do you think world leaders would react? Better or worse than in this movie?"
"What did you think of the Martians' 'sense of humor'? Was it actually funny or just cruel?"
"The movie is making fun of old sci-fi movies from the 1950s—did you catch any of those references?"

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