Fresh and Exciting

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The animation is so bad and the lines are bad, too. This movie is extremely bad, but it's not the worst movie. They were at least trying to make a good movie, and I like the message the movie teaches. Eat your vegetables, and never ever go somewhere with an alien. Milo is very annoying. He doesn't eat healthy food for most of the movie, and feeds it to his pet.

Mars Needs Moms (2011): Dir: Simon Wells / Voices: Seth Green, Dan Fogler, Elisabeth Harnois, Joan Cusack, Tom Everett Scott: Family animated space movie about the importance of mothers. It regards young Milo who constantly disobeys his mother. When his mother is abducted by martians Milo's struggle to rescue her. Apparently the abducted moms have their memories erased and entered into robot nannies that discipline the orphaned martians. Milo is assisted in his rescue mission by Gribble, a free spirited human whom lives in hiding. They are soon joined by Ki, a female martian who has adapted English and has a knack for colour. A triumph for director Simon Wells who also collaborated in another animated masterpiece called The Prince of Egypt. The animated detail is spectacular especially given movements, gestures and expressions of the characters. Seth Green voices Milo who must put his rebellious streak aside despite the fact that he will predictably learn his lesson. Dan Fogler voices Gribble whose spirit is sheltering his own failed attempt to rescue his mother. Now he has a new mission that will pay off by film's end. Elisabeth Harnois voices Ki who learns of emotion and love while assisting Milo with his mission. Joan Cusack voices Milo's mother who is placed within the dimwitted nanny-bot memory erased plot scheme, but whose rescue visualizes the bond between mother and son. Tom Everett Scott voices Milo's father and that is about the extent of his role. Underrated family film that is for anybody who needs a reminder of how important their mother is. Score: 7 ½ / 10

I thought this movie was going to be stupid. In fact, when watching Mars Needs Moms, I was surprised. This is a movie that actually was great fun. But its flawed fun.The story focuses on Milo, a kid who is a troublemaker. One night after he says something harsh to his mom, she gets kidnapped by aliens! Why? So that they can put the souls of the moms into Robots that take care of Baby Aliens. So he has to go save her before its too late.The first thing you will notice is the animation. The animation is one of the film's strongest parts. Just look at how realistic the animation is. It is actually like watching a Live Action film the animation is so good. This is thanks to Image Movers (This was their last film) as they are gathered some of the greatest animators and they worked to their best. The motion capture is very sophisticated due to the many emotions the characters make.Enough with animation. Time to talk characters and acting. The acting is impressive by Seth Green and Joan Cusack. Green actually voices a kid in this movie that he did the motion capture for. His acting and Joan Cusack's acting as the mom makes them look like a realistic son-mother team. We have some other characters, one played by Dan Fogler who has his little underground base and a alien who loves color. These characters range from goofy to smart. They are stock characters though but they are used to their best.The story and script have some originality. I mean, this is the first movie that breaks new ground by having Aliens kidnap Moms *Snickers* but not all of it is original as we have the ACTUAL character reveal like we have all seen before and the Oh we think he/she is dead but is not. But the script is like a Classic 90's kids film that keeps me entertained throughout.Mars Needs Moms was panned by critics and audiences and I can see why. But you should give this movie a chance. I really enjoyed this film and had a great message about family. Its sad that this is Image Movers last film. But I will always remember them as one of the greatest animation companies in the world.78/100 B

My plan was to set the film going then leave the kids to it. In actual fact, to my total surprise I really liked this and on occasions I was shushing the kids so I could hear it! My family (kids AND adults) all love the Toy Story series but aren't such fans of Happy Feet and Up... in other words, we like some animated movies but by no means all.The animation in this film is so good that in a number of scenes I found myself asking if it was animated or real. The true test (to me) is that you get carried away into the film forgetting about animation because it is so slick. Toy Story 1/2/3 did it, this did it.The story is somewhat predictable and shallow, but hey, it's a kids movie, that is exactly what it SHOULD be! My 4 year old and 9 year old could equally enjoy the movie, following the story line and knowing what outcome they wanted.There are plenty of laughs too. I found myself chuckling on multiple occasions... usually where the kids didn't :) It's typical Disney ...Fun, laughter, tears and great animation. It's a pleasing film to watch and the behind the scenes segments were a real insight and quite fun.I would certainly recommend this film for a good Sunday afternoon session on a rainy day!