Mars Needs Moms...
Recently, I had a chance to see Mars Needs Moms...
As for the visuals, the Martians clearly got all the love. The character animation, particularly the humans, seemed, in my humble opinion, a bit clumsy. The animators used motion capture to achieve reasonably accurate character rendering, but, unlike Avatar, which was awesome, Mars Needs Moms, was decidedly less awesome. But, even though Mars Needs Moms was not one of the great cinematic achievements of movie history, it was still reasonably entertaining. One thing that stood out for me, was the concept of Martian wall tagging -- that was a particularly nice touch.
The shortcomings in the story, were overcome to some degree with heaping amounts of action. Mars Needs Moms does exhibit more than its fair share of violence against children. But, let's face the fact that angry Martians tend to be that way. Some of the themes expressed in the story (like abandonment and death) may be a bit too intense for some of the youngest viewers.
Ki, the happy-go-lucky, hippie-inspired, Martian, is of course, my favorite character. She stole the entire show. Overall, Mars Needs Moms was not the best thing to come out of Disney Studios, but, it was reasonably entertaining. I wouldn't pay to see it in the theater, but, I did eventually pay to have it on DVD. I gave Mars Needs Moms a 4 out of 5.
Somehow, I managed to miss Mars Needs Moms in the theater and on DVD. So, I ended up catching this title on cable. The story is a bit weak, so, it's not surprising that Mars Needs Moms faded into obscurity fairly quickly.Mars Needs Moms is a comic animated adventure about moms, Martians, and mutiny. Martian hatchlings are springing up out of the ground up on Mars, and there's a desperate need for a good mom to raise the babies. Mars matriarch "The Supervisor" (Mindy Sterling) sets her sights on Milo's mom (Joan Cusack) because she's doing such a good job raising Milo (Seth Green) down on Earth, and she quickly abducts her. As luck would have it, Milo's just said something to his mother that he's come to regret, goes into her room to apologize right as she's being abducted, and winds up getting caught in the spaceship that's transporting her to Mars. On Mars, Milo meets a strangely childlike human named Gribble (Dan Fogler), and the two quickly become friends and set out on a bumbling mission to rescue Milo's mom. Along the way, they get a little help from Martian Ki (Elisabeth Harnois), who sees things a little differently than other Martians, thanks to her exposure to some Earth television from the flower-power era. What ensues is a dangerous and exciting adventure that yields a surprising revelation about the role and value of mothers. Mars Needs Moms utilizes the same digital performance-capture technology animation as Polar Express, and it is a visually stunning film. The pace is exciting; the characters are well developed, captivating, and often quirky; and the story speaks to kids and adults alike.
As for the visuals, the Martians clearly got all the love. The character animation, particularly the humans, seemed, in my humble opinion, a bit clumsy. The animators used motion capture to achieve reasonably accurate character rendering, but, unlike Avatar, which was awesome, Mars Needs Moms, was decidedly less awesome. But, even though Mars Needs Moms was not one of the great cinematic achievements of movie history, it was still reasonably entertaining. One thing that stood out for me, was the concept of Martian wall tagging -- that was a particularly nice touch.
The shortcomings in the story, were overcome to some degree with heaping amounts of action. Mars Needs Moms does exhibit more than its fair share of violence against children. But, let's face the fact that angry Martians tend to be that way. Some of the themes expressed in the story (like abandonment and death) may be a bit too intense for some of the youngest viewers.
Ki, the happy-go-lucky, hippie-inspired, Martian, is of course, my favorite character. She stole the entire show. Overall, Mars Needs Moms was not the best thing to come out of Disney Studios, but, it was reasonably entertaining. I wouldn't pay to see it in the theater, but, I did eventually pay to have it on DVD. I gave Mars Needs Moms a 4 out of 5.
