I was almost dumb enough to see Mars Needs Moms when it was at the theater. Lucky for me, it must have come out at a time when there were plenty of other films I wanted to see more. The slick appearance of the film initially drew my interest. So, when I saw this film was streaming, I dropped it in my queue and settled in. I quickly realized how fortunate I was that I didn't shell out hard-earned cash for this film.
Mars Needs Moms is one of those films that is all style and no substance. The problems with this film reflect the problems with Hollywood as a whole. The film is unoriginal, derivative, cliche, weak plot, sappy, contrived...the list goes on. While Disney has been known to produce other poorly conceived films, they generally at least manage to make them enjoyable to me. This film had but one redeeming quality. The animation. And even the animation wasn't perfect for my taste.
Director Simon Wells penned this script along with his wife Wendy. The story is based on a novel written by Berkeley Breathed. The story follows a young boy, Milo (Seth Green) who has an argument with is mom (Joan Cusack) minutes before she is captured by Martians and spirited away to the Red Planet. In the process of trying to save his mom, Milo is scooped up by the landing gear and tossed into the ship. When he arrives at mars, he is sequestered in a pod-like prison.
So why was Milo's Mom abducted in the first place? Well, it seems that Mars is not an egalitarian planet. When hatchlings arrive from the surprisingly fertile Martian soil, the boys and girls are segregated. The boys are taken to the garbage dump while the girls are raised by robo-nannies. But the nannies need programming to properly tend for the young future-leaders of Mars. This is accomplished by abducting a mother from Earth and removing her memories to program the robots. Oh, and by the way, the process vaporizes the mother in the process.
Milo is rescued from his pod by an odd Earthling named Gribble (Dan Fogler). We eventually learn how Gribble landed on the Red Planet. We also learn he has an unquenchable loneliness and has plans to keep Milo safe so he can have a playmate. However, Milo has other plans. He needs to rescue his mother. In the process, the entire Martian social structure gets turned on its head (along with the assistance of a cute, rebellious Martian named Ki, played by Elizabeth Harnois).
The script for Mars Needs Moms was troubled to its core. It started with the script and crept into the dialogue, which was sophomoric. I would expect much better from the great-grandson of the famed Sci-Fi novelist H.G. Wells. The story may have had qualities that could have been salvaged, with the right delivery and better dialogue, but it still felt horribly contrived, derivative and cliched. As it was presented, there was very little value in the writing.
The look of the film gave me mixed impressions. The film had a cool graphic feel that stood apart from the actual characters. The background scenery was rich and creative. The characters were also creative and interesting. However, I was troubled by some of the human characters due to an eerie, plastic feel I got from them. I can't really put my finger on it, but I think I discovered the source. At the end of the film, they showed out-takes of the filming. The characters were wearing positional references, which indicate this film was shot with motion capture technology. I think the use of this device could have been brilliant but ended up giving the film a creepy look at times. I felt this mostly with the human characters, which had expressions and movements that weren't quite right. The overall look was brilliant, but flawed.
I don't know if I need to really address acting. I could talk about the voice acting, but the problems with the script and the limitations of the animation really sucked away any of the energy the voice actors could have imparted to their characters. The characters ended up looking flat, predictable and uninspiring. I was very disappointed at the overall feel of the film and the poor script left little for the actors to work with. I wasn't "feeling" this movie, but I don't know that I can pin that on the actors. The film attracted some decent talent and also included a couple of nepotistic bit parts given to the children of the Director/Writers.
If you are looking for a great animated film, find something else. Mars Needs Moms is a culmination of everything that's wrong with Hollywood. It is a cheap, poorly conceived film that tries to make money with cool effects and a slick presentation. It was originally shot in 3D, which is another money-making venture that doesn't always equate to quality. While there were some interesting bits in this film, some great creativity in the animated props and backgrounds as well as interesting perspectives, the film fails on a weak story. I like originality (which we get in some of the animated scenery), but this film is so full of cliche and derivatives that it is simply not worth wasting time on. 4.5/10.
