Movie Review: Mars Need Mars

Heather and I were invited to a private screening of the new Disney movie “Mars Needs Moms” and we both loved it!

The 3D film is based on a book written by Berkeley Breathed, also known for creating the daily comic strip “Bloom County”. The main character is Milo, your typical 9 year old who doesn’t want to eat his broccoli and take out the trash.  Milo and his mom get into an argument where Milo wonders “who needs moms, anyway?” Later that evening Milo’s mom gets abducted and in her absence Milo quickly learns how much he really does need his mom. This film has to be what boy’s dream about. What young boy wouldn’t love being around Martians, taking a ride on a spaceship and romping around piles of trash?

Think Avatar as far as landscapes and 3D imagery and add in ET for the cute alien characters. The ruler of Mars is called the “Supervisor” (leader of the Martians) and is played by Mindy Sterling. The supervisor looks like she could be ET’s grandmother. Frankly, the Supervisor was quite scary! She wanted a world of females so she dumped the boys into a wasteland of trash. I did love the cameras that the Martians used (Martian iPhones?) and the graffiti was pretty cool. The thrilling 3D effects really made the scenes through tubes, shoots, and drops exciting as well as realistic!

All of the actors that were cast were fantastic. All action was created using performance capture movie making. I’m always captivated as well as interested in how the digital characters resemble the live actors. Joan Cusack is one of my favorite actresses. She was the perfect fit for the mom, an extremely vital part of the opening/ending scenes. Seth Green played Milo BUT Milo didn’t sound anything like Seth Green, AT ALL. Heather and I were totally confused. Maybe his voice was altered/computerized? I found out later that Green’s voice was switched out with a child actor. So, the movements and performance were Green. The voice belonged to a young actor named Seth Dusky. Mystery solved! Dan Fogler did an excellent job playing Gribble-the only human on Mars that can help Milo. I must add that Gribble’s character looked the most realistic.

This movie offers action, laughter and tears! Leave it up to Disney to squeeze in a scene where I need to cry. I’m not going to spoil the movie for anyone but moms, bring a tissue. The one scene where Milo saves his mom? Well, that scene sums up the love a parent has for their child. Parents will do anything to protect their children even if they were on Mars.

This is a fantastic, family fun-filled movie and the length is perfect (88 minutes). We do feel that some of the effects and 3D could be much for a young child to handle. The movie is PG and we feel it would be perfect for kids 7+.

What I found interesting during the movie was that Milo couldn’t explain what a mom was. Milo: “I’m just trying to find my mom. The one that feeds me? She vacuums the house.” LOL! Is that what kids really think of us? Mars Needs Moms opens today (3/11) so take the kids to see it! Maybe your kids will appreciate you more!

Also, make sure you stay for the ending credits where you’ll get a glimpse as to what the actors go through during the performance capture process.

– Tee and Heather

* We did not receive monetary compensation for this review. That’s IT Mommy were invited to a screening of Mars Needs Moms by Social Moms (www.socialmoms.com) and Walt Disney Pictures.  This will in no way sway our opinion of the product or service.
 The review is in our own words and is our opinion. Your results and opinions may differ.