Mars Needs Moms (2011)

Featured Audience Ratings

• danny d

  
  wow. the film features an interesting concept, and then does whatever possible to muck it up. a total train wreck. one of the worst kids movies i have ever had the displeasure to sit through.

• Luke B

  
  Oh dear. This was an incredibly lifeless effort. Mocap shows that it has a long way to go to capture humanity. This seems like the Mocap film least in need of being in the form. It's a story of a boy that is your usual asshat kid. Then his mom is captured by aliens and he… More
  Oh dear. This was an incredibly lifeless effort. Mocap shows that it has a long way to go to capture humanity. This seems like the Mocap film least in need of being in the form. It's a story of a boy that is your usual asshat kid. Then his mom is captured by aliens and he realises how much he loves her. The film is mostly dull, with very repetitive landscapes used. Foggler has some great chances for emotional connection as a stranded kid, but he messes it up by just being a very poor imitation of Jack Black. And even Jack Black can't be Jack Black anymore. Seth Green was screwed over by having his voice completely replaced. I'm sure this is false advertising as the trailers had his voice. The film also fails to slow down, with constant chasing and shouting. In the end the main reason this film fails is because of its confusing messages. If you listen to your mom she'll be taken away by aliens. Women shouldn't work and should look after kids. Families should comprise of 1 mom and 1 dad in order to be successful. It's hard to know what the film is saying, because it just isn't articulate enough.

• Mike S

  
  Mars needs more than just moms, but also a better script, funnier jokes and something to take it beyond genericness. Great visuals just doesn't cut it, however graphically impressive it may be with its astoundingly life-like animations. But I suppose with all the awesome CGI… More
  Mars needs more than just moms, but also a better script, funnier jokes and something to take it beyond genericness. Great visuals just doesn't cut it, however graphically impressive it may be with its astoundingly life-like animations. But I suppose with all the awesome CGI flicks we get, the price we have to pay is to endure a couple of mediocre ones every once in a while. This is one such "I'll watch it just to have seen it"-films. It got better by the end though, where it found its way into my heart with a very touching scene. Just too bad that everything that preceded it was such a mundane experience.

• Brad W

  
  Mars Needs moms is not a good kids film, even though the animation is incredible. The plot is a very boring and loses its train of though many times and starts worrying about other things instead of the main point, saving his mom. The voice acting from Dan Folger was the only one… More
  Mars Needs moms is not a good kids film, even though the animation is incredible. The plot is a very boring and loses its train of though many times and starts worrying about other things instead of the main point, saving his mom. The voice acting from Dan Folger was the only one that I found a slight bit interesting, other than that everyone annoyed the crap out of me. The animation was incredible, I was stunned at how well it was, and it was the only thing that saved it from a very bad review, instead of just a bad review. Overall kids might enjoy this, and the film has a good theme that moms are the people who will love us no matter what, but my siblings are 6 and 10 and they hated it, so im not alone when I say it was a bad film.

• Matt G

  
  'Mars Needs Moms' is not a great film, it isn't even too good, which places it in the average zone. I found the first act very bright and promising, but the story falls apart and becomes uninteresting in the last two acts. The main aspect that really caught my eye was… More
  'Mars Needs Moms' is not a great film, it isn't even too good, which places it in the average zone. I found the first act very bright and promising, but the story falls apart and becomes uninteresting in the last two acts. The main aspect that really caught my eye was the flawlessly impressive animation, which was done my motion capture technology, if I'm remembering right. The animation was astounding to look at, as well as the realism of these visuals making animation more real than ever. The same animation team that provided the award winning effects for 'The Polar Express'. I found the human animation was incredibly realistic, as well as the most impressive aspect of the film from a visual standpoint. Despite the fact that the film is beautiful to look at, the writing is poor, the main character is an extremely unlikable brat, Dan Foggler is at his least funny (he's never funny), and there isn't much originality. Another gripe I had with this film were the Martians animation, which in my opinion were not original, nor well-made. It seems that the direction was clearly trying to be serious, but the entire tone changes throughout which makes the audience care less and less about the characters, even in moments of extreme peril. As I mentioned, the film lacks a radiant script; nothing is ever explained in a reasonable or understandable way and the Martians' actions have no complexity or explanatory objections as to why they need the moms. I must admit that there are little individual moments that are great and light-hearted, but it is undeniable that the script mainly consists of mindless potty humor and deliberate use of immaturity. Perhaps if character development was handled more carefully, this could have turned out to be something really great. The fact that Disney is involved in this is quite sad because they usually never fail at giving audiences what they want; with this and 'Cars 2', it seems that Disney is running out of ideas (here's your chance Dreamworks). Luckily though, the film does have a short running time, coming in at about 90 minutes, being the best aspect I can think of pertaining to the film aside from the animation. On an unrelated note; this movie was marketed as an action-adventure movie, when in fact is slightly that, but there wasn't very much action to offer considering the endless possibilities that can be diligently and brilliantly well-executed when creating a totally farfetched animated universe. Seth Green (who only provided the motion capture for Milo's character) and Joan Cusack are admirable and lovable actors, and bring some of their individual wittiness humor to the stage, and with great animation, 'Mars Needs Moms' is somewhat watchable, but easily forgettable.

• Cynthia S

  
  Cute. Nothing too exciting, though.

• Dead A

  
  I can't believe how low the rating is. This movie is awesome! I enjoyed from starting till the end. It is beautifully done.

• Conner R

  
  I honestly cannot understand how anyone could see this and not find it to be one great kid's movie. Not only is Mars Needs Moms great for its target audience, this is truly built for everyone. There's some great writing, amazing characters and truly heart felt moments.… More
  I honestly cannot understand how anyone could see this and not find it to be one great kid's movie. Not only is Mars Needs Moms great for its target audience, this is truly built for everyone. There's some great writing, amazing characters and truly heart felt moments. Motion capture is an animation form that is still finding its audience, but I just really can't get enough of it. This is so beautifully done that it's hard not to marvel at it just from a visual standpoint. However, this has reasoning to look the way it does; it makes all of the characters and situations all the more real. It's not a bunch of goofy, animated characters. Milo looks like a real kid who's lost his mom and you can see his emotions in every single frame. A lot of this motion capture works as well as it does due to the amazing performances from Seth Green, Dan Fogler and Seth Dusky as Milo's voice. Now this might seem like a corny movie only suited for eight-year-olds, but it has some of the most honest things to say about unconditional love and what it means to be a family. It also happens to be just really fun and genuinely great in terms of comedy. It manages to contain a number of crazy elements, but make them appear extremely believable and you're never taken out of the story because of them. This movie deserves so much more praise than it receives and it is a complete leap in terms of what you can do with animation technology and achieving true performances in the medium.

• Manu G

  
  Mom needs a little space. Good movie! The story was pretty good and simple with a nice solid message. What I didn't like about this movie was the voice of Seth green with his character, it totally didn't work for me. I thought this movie was pretty cool and not bad at all.… More
  Mom needs a little space. Good movie! The story was pretty good and simple with a nice solid message. What I didn't like about this movie was the voice of Seth green with his character, it totally didn't work for me. I thought this movie was pretty cool and not bad at all. The scene at the almost end of the film where the mom saves his son was really important and touching, almost perfect to really solidify this film. I love Disney movie's, can't help it! The film follows a boy named Milo. Milo is just beginning summer but his mother gives him chores and tasks like weeding the garden or eating his vegetables. But after Milo tints his sister's face purple, his mother sees no humor in this. She orders him up to his room. After an argument with his mother in which Milo says "I don't see what's so special about mothers!", Milo goes to his room. After falling asleep, Milo does not hear the rumble of the rocket landing outside. After, Martians enter Milo's house and take away his mother. Milo realizes that he has to rescue her. Milo embarks on an adventure to rescue his mother. The film is based on a children's picture book by Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Berkeley "Berke" Breathed, author of the comic strip Bloom County.

• Dann M

  
  This film is a lot more infantile than the title would suggest. Mars Needs Moms delivers what it promises, and that's not a good thing. The story is incredibly stupid and the acting isn't much better. Even the CG animation is atrocious; quite possibly the worst motion… More
  This film is a lot more infantile than the title would suggest. Mars Needs Moms delivers what it promises, and that's not a good thing. The story is incredibly stupid and the acting isn't much better. Even the CG animation is atrocious; quite possibly the worst motion capture animation that I've seen. Mars Needs Moms is complete garbage and a waste of time.

• Bradley W

  
  Mars Needs moms is not a good kids film, even though the animation is incredible. The plot is a very boring and loses its train of though many times and starts worrying about other things instead of the main point, saving his mom. The voice acting from Dan Folger was the only one… More
  Mars Needs moms is not a good kids film, even though the animation is incredible. The plot is a very boring and loses its train of though many times and starts worrying about other things instead of the main point, saving his mom. The voice acting from Dan Folger was the only one that I found a slight bit interesting, other than that everyone annoyed the crap out of me. The animation was incredible, I was stunned at how well it was, and it was the only thing that saved it from a very bad review, instead of just a bad review. Overall kids might enjoy this, and the film has a good theme that moms are the people who will love us no matter what, but my siblings are 6 and 10 and they hated it, so im not alone when I say it was a bad film.

• Sol C

  
  Next to Polar Express, this is one of my favorite motion capture animated films. I really wished I would have seen it in theaters, especially in 3D. I thought the story was good. The film kind of reminded me of movies like Zathura and Wall E. Both Seth Green and the kid actor who… More
  Next to Polar Express, this is one of my favorite motion capture animated films. I really wished I would have seen it in theaters, especially in 3D. I thought the story was good. The film kind of reminded me of movies like Zathura and Wall E. Both Seth Green and the kid actor who does the voice of Milo are great in the film. Dan Fogler steals the film as Gribble. I definitely recommend this film. Definitely check out the behind the scenes of how they made the film, which is shown when the end credits are rolling. I found it very interesting on how they made the film.

• Ryan M

  
  3.7/10 I'm totally fine with the majority of filmmakers working in animation crafting features for younger children; that's how it works. Plenty of these movies actually turn out to be fairly appealing, if not lacking in depth. Thus, they are not made entirely… More
  3.7/10 I'm totally fine with the majority of filmmakers working in animation crafting features for younger children; that's how it works. Plenty of these movies actually turn out to be fairly appealing, if not lacking in depth. Thus, they are not made entirely for kids, are they? I walked in to "Mars Needs Moms" with such expectations and was significantly let-down when it turned out to be much worse than I expected. It underachieves, yes, but that's not the worst of it. No logical, intelligent adult will give this a positive review; and I'm certain of that. At best, you could say it's a mediocre flick. It will work for the kiddies no doubt; with its humor set at the level of utter stupidity and its complexity practically mimicking that quality. I feel sorry for the parents that will be forced to endure it. The film is innocent; completely so. It isn't mean-spirited and that's what makes it a family film. However, what's a good family film? Something that simply entertains the kids and saves the adults the trouble of having to cover eyes and ears? I believe that good entertainment, in terms of FAMILY entertainment, should entertain everyone in front of the screen. Of course, most films aren't made for everyone; but you can take one good look at the critical reception for this film and see that I'm not wrong, not lying, and most certainly not alone. Milo (played by Seth Green through motion-capture and voiced by the much younger Seth Dusky) is fed up with his mother (Joan Cusack), and she is fed up with him. Milo is feeding his broccoli to the house pets. He's not going to bed when he's told. He complains when mother asks him to perform the simple task of taking out the garbage. Perhaps this is a result of the father not being at Milo's side all his life. We know that the kid's father is on a trip somewhere; due to return home soon. This leaves Milo alone in the world, with only a cat and a mother. However, Milo might be in luck; as it turns out, the Martians (of Mars, of course) are plotting to kidnap every mother that they feel would be an ideal care-taker of their own little bastard alien children. The Martians target mother, and they succeed in capturing her. Milos hitches a ride on the alien spacecraft; and gets to see space for the first time in his life. While exploring the ship, he meets the overweight but easy-going Gribble (Dan Fogler, as silly as ever). He also meets Ki, an alien that has discovered both English and the culture of hippies. Milo and his new pals have one thing on their agenda; get his mom back. Of course, things get in the way; thus stalling such a mission from reaching its end too soon. When it does end, things get melodramatic and sappy. However, the problem is that the melodrama doesn't begin or end with the film's climatic scenes; there's stuff in the middle that tries ever-so-hard to pull on the heart strings. No luck though, given that the film is heavily lacking in narrative relevance, humor, or dramatic quality. Such a shame; this thing could have been deeper than most kid-friendly animations, but as you can see, things just didn't work out. I have no problem with this film existing. It's not insulting to anything other than the audience's intelligence. The animation is fairly decent, consisting mostly of motion-capture and the like. I find this approach questionable, as better things have been done without resorting to these techniques. In the end, it's nothing short of unnecessary. Perhaps "Mars Needs Moms" will be charming to some of those in the audience. Some will think it is funny, but I didn't. It's stupid, mindless, and nothing short of an excessive potboiler. It came and it went; just as bad movies should. Luckily there are animated films such as "Rango" to act as antidotes, because if there were not, I would have lost faith in 3D animation. I prefer hand-drawn, 2-dimensional animation to the popular movement of the genre, since is shows lots of unqiue craft. This is just another artificle creation; dimwitted and worse than it has the right to be. If you respect animation, then here's a movie you'll want to skip. But if you have children, and if they want to see this, then perhaps this review can't help you. Just go through with it and revive your intelligence through one of Pixar's finer productions, or something like that.

• Panta O

  
  I can't find any faults with this one and still I never considered giving it more than 50%... It wasn't bad computer-animated sci-fi adventure comedy , but I found that director Simon Wells (the great grandson of H. G. Wells) played TOO SAFE! The film is centered around… More
  I can't find any faults with this one and still I never considered giving it more than 50%... It wasn't bad computer-animated sci-fi adventure comedy , but I found that director Simon Wells (the great grandson of H. G. Wells) played TOO SAFE! The film is centered around a nine-year-old boy who after being grounded, realizes he was wrong to be rude to his mother, and has to rescue her after she is abducted by Martians. Of course, there is help on Mars for a real adventure! Biggest remark... film has no soul! Too flat for my taste!

• Bradley J

  
  Though it does have its share of thrilling scenes, and likable characters, Mars Needs Moms, is overly depressing and overly serious. This film will make little kids be afraid of their moms being taken from them. Overall Rating:48

• Nathan C

  
  Despite the humble message and the vivid animation, that's it. Yes, this movie has its moments, but most of the characters (especially the little kid) are unlikeable, and you have a sense that you would like the movie to end as soon as possible because of how annoyingly annoying… More
  Despite the humble message and the vivid animation, that's it. Yes, this movie has its moments, but most of the characters (especially the little kid) are unlikeable, and you have a sense that you would like the movie to end as soon as possible because of how annoyingly annoying the kid is. Yes, he is voiced by Seth Green, but he seems like a bastard child version of Freddie Highmore...

• Chris B

  
  "Mars Needs Moms" fails for a multitude of reasons, and while the animation itself is detailed and well rendered, that's about the only positive of mention. Apparently Seth Green could imitated a 9 year old boy for the motion capture he had to provide (Don't know… More
  "Mars Needs Moms" fails for a multitude of reasons, and while the animation itself is detailed and well rendered, that's about the only positive of mention. Apparently Seth Green could imitated a 9 year old boy for the motion capture he had to provide (Don't know how good of a thing that is) but his voice was dubbed over with an actual child's voice. I have no idea why they didn't just utilize an actual child, but then again this was a culmination of dumb moves on Disney's part.

• Gavin C

  
  To be honest, I think I like Robert Zemeckis's motion capture films. Don't get me wrong. The character models may be creepy, but they didn't bother me at all, in my opinion. When I heard that he teamed up with Simon Wells, the guy who brought us great animated films… More
  To be honest, I think I like Robert Zemeckis's motion capture films. Don't get me wrong. The character models may be creepy, but they didn't bother me at all, in my opinion. When I heard that he teamed up with Simon Wells, the guy who brought us great animated films like An American Tail: Fievel Goes West and Balto except for the mediocre We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story to direct this movie using his motion capture technique, I looked over the negative reviews from Rotten Tomatoes and had low expectations. Apparently, when I watched it online on my laptop, I was pretty disappointed, but I don't like it's a bad movie. Here's the reason why. 1) The story is great for a picture book, but I wouldn't say much about the story in this movie because it was too short for a 88 minute film. The dialog was so lame I couldn't even care about it. The story was predictable at times, but at least it had a moral lesson about always appreciate your mom and if you do, aliens from mars will try and take and steal her brain to make the robots raise their own young. Wait, what? 2) The animation is very decent. The visuals are amazing it has a surprisingly good mix between Cloud City from Star Wars and the digital world from Tron Legacy. The character models were OK, but there was just one problem: They look like humans, but they're not even a real creature! I now understand that he uses the motion capture technique to make people look like people. It would've been a lot cheaper if he used real humans in the CGI environment. Wait. The company got closed down. Well, never mind. 3) The characters are as likable as a mosquito bite. The only characters that were so likable were Gribble, the robot creature that looks like WALLE, and Ki, but that's not saying much. Milo was by far the worst character in a movie this far. He's one dimensional, so forgettable and the kid actor that replaced Seth Green was unforgivable. Not only that, he said something that was so unforgiving during the beginning that you'll hate him for the rest of the movie. Milo's mom only appears in the beginning and the end of the movie and we don't have time to care for her. So, let's move on. The supervisor (who looks like a mix between the Grand Concilwoman from Lilo and Stitch and Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars) didn't leave an impact on this movie and the hairy looking tribe are so grating and uninteresting. One of the hairy looking tribe people was so unfunny that I couldn't even care less about him. That's it for the characters. There are a few good things that save this movie. 1) The direction from Simon Wells was amazing 2) The sci-fi action was pretty cool, but there some moments that may frighten younger kids. 3) The music score from John Powell was awesome with some catchy sci-fi sounds and a catchy Martian Mambo song which was so epic. 4) There were some emotional scenes where Gribble explains how he came to mars in the first place and where Milo's mother sacrifices her life to save him by giving him her space helmet and I would have cried. It may not be heartwarming, but at least it's touching. 5) The voice acting was amazing. Seth Green (now voiced by Seth Dusky) and the rest including Joan Cusack were amazing in their performances. Mars Needs Moms is a mediocre with a simple story being broken, not great, yet very decent CGI, and unlikeable characters (except Gribble, the robot creature and Ki), but with solid voice acting, very spectacular sci-fi action, and an amazing music score, it's not a horrible movie. I would recommend this to kids, but as for adults, this is worth avoiding. Now, if you'll excuse, I'm gonna look for an upcoming sequel, "Mars Needs Financial Help". Story: 5/10 Animation: 6/10 Characters 4/10 Voice Acting: 8/10 Music Score: 10/10 Rating: 5.9/10

• Juan C

  
  an animated movie that is very misleading, bad animated, and unfunny gags. it dosen't need moms, it needs a better script then this! D-

• Andrew P

  
  Mars Needs Moms is a tricky one, it's too creepy and weird for kids and too silly for adults. It clearly struggles for a while to figure out what kind of film it wants to be, and when it does I felt like I had lost interest. The motion capture looks okay, iv'e never been a… More
  Mars Needs Moms is a tricky one, it's too creepy and weird for kids and too silly for adults. It clearly struggles for a while to figure out what kind of film it wants to be, and when it does I felt like I had lost interest. The motion capture looks okay, iv'e never been a huge fan of the style, but it works. Seth Green does a great job as the main kid. But overall it's a cheesy gooey family film. If that's what you like from your movies then you will enjoy it, but it wasn't for me.

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