Film Reviews

Mars Needs Moms

• Rating:
• Director: Simon Wells
• Starring: Dan Fogler
• Details: US/88mins PG

Probably heralding the end of the motion capture technique pioneered by Robert Zemekis (who produces here), this family film bombed at the America box-office and it's easy to see why. Awkward and flat, with an overly-basic and silly plot, one or two sequences manage to impress but the script struggles to bring the characters to life - both human and alien.
Regular youngster Milo is rude to his Mother when, that very evening, she is abducted by Martians who want to steal her "momness" and take it back to their gaff. Running to try save her, he manages to get on board the ship and ends up on Mars where he meets Don Fogler's astronaut who has been there long enough to go a bit mental - relax, its Disney mental, so more quirky than unhinged. Together they search for his Mom and try to get home.
The main issue with this expensive form of execution is that the human characters never feel real enough not to distract, nor quirky enough to buy as cartoons. The movement, skin tone and even the lip movement will be dead on - but the eyes are disconcerting at best and probably closer to creepy. For the grandiose sequences it works, but Mars Needs Moms cost $150 million to produce so at the very least you should get some eye candy.
There have been a few below par kids efforts of late (A Turtles Tale, Hop), thus some parents expect to be grated by productions aimed at their offspring. When the film doesn't feature an oversized purple character constantly repeating himself they're shocked and brand it entertaining because their expectations have been lowered. This is why we have Pixar, who push the boundaries of story and character, first and foremost, and allow the technological advancement to grow organically. Mars Needs Moms is a film more concerned with embracing the aesthetic side, before ramming home a sickly sweet, obvious "be nice to your Mother" message.
A bit of an endurance test for the most part, go rent the far more enjoyable Tangled instead.

Review by Mike Sheridan