Mars Needs Moms

Mars Needs Moms

The newest Disney movie on the circuit is “Mars Needs Moms.” It is exactly what it sounds like. The lead voices in this animation are Seth Green as the boy Milo, Joan Cusack as the mom, and Dan Foggler as Gribble. The film is set in recent urban America and Mars. This movie is put together by Simon Wells, the great-grandson of H.G. Wells.

The opening scenes of “mars Needs Moms” are a bit disturbing. I can’t imagine that is what you expected to read for this review…well keep going. Babies popping out of the ground (on Mars) and being harvested are what we get to enjoy as a Disney audience. That is followed by the aliens on Mars, referred to as the Sis, zeroing in on moms on Earth to be utilized on Mars for the young Sis. They select Mom because she is stern with her son Milo and she has “good” parenting skills. The Sis come to abduct Mom and Milo gets dragged along as the ship takes off. Upon arrival, Milo ends up in the trash down below and encounters Gribble, the only other human on Mars. There is a happy Sis (Ki) that Milo encounters and she is the “hippie” of the Sis. The trio comes together to rescue Gribble when he is put in front of a firing squad. They work together to save Mom and in the process viewers will sit through: The male aliens invading the female aliens lair, because as it is explained by Milo to his mother, the hairy aliens (male) are good and the others (female Sis) are not, Mom giving up her space helmet for the benefit of her son, and so on.

Let’s focus on the character development in “Mars Needs Moms” for a moment. The animation of the characters was mediocre at best. The suits used by the real actors/voices help create lifelike motions and facial features, so it is not like watching “UP” or “Sin City” but we are left feeling like we are watching “Sim City” on steroids. The animation aspect was unique but unfulfilling. We cannot understand the Sis language, only their body language which is constantly negative. The voice for Gribble is almost as poor as using Seth Rogen for “Paul”. The audience at the screening did not react to any of the characters for an hour into the film. We first got a feeling for some of the characters during Gribble’s rescue, way too late into the film. An hour for the first audience reaction = boring movie. The trauma from that point on was a bit harsh such as kids crying at some death/dying scenes and moms disappearing. Near the end we are hit with the standard happy family type message.

The fact Simon Wells was involved as the head honcho for this film does not lend much merit to the film overall. It was just as irrelevant as James Cameron lending his name to “Sanctum.” Disney’s negative messages and images in this film are not what should be expected from a kids’ film. The social stratification and threat to family are not exactly what young parents and toddlers should be subjected to.

“Mars Needs Moms” doesn’t leave much to the imagination. The story is fairly in-your-face. There isn’t much to spoil but if your kids are old enough to read and understand this review, then they should be savvy enough to know they should pick a different movie. I was fully hoping for quality children’s films after “Paul” and other mature titles recently. The Disney name didn’t hold up in this picture. It is clear Disney is promoting and working on B-title films. Some films that come to mind while watching this are Planet 51, Planet of the Apes, 5th Element, and Minority Report for some reason. I wouldn’t take the time to rent, steal or make a copy of this movie if it were on DVD. Take the kids to “Rango” in the meantime. “Mars Needs Moms” picks up a tragic 1 out of 5 Cyclones.


-Jeremy Brickner
CycloneMovies.com