DVD Reviews

Mars needs Moms - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Aug 8, 2011, 14:05 GMT

From Disney and Academy Award-winner Robert Zemeckis (best director, Forrest Gump, 1994) comes the craziest adventure this side of the galaxy Mars Needs Moms. Take out the trash, eat your broccoli who needs moms anyway? Nine-year-old Milo (Seth Green) finds out how much he needs his (Joan Cusack) when she\'s nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her mom-ness for their own young. In a race against time and oxygen, ...more

It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but the release of Mars needs Moms turned out to be a disaster of epic proportions.  It led to the dissolving of ImageMovers Digital, the company that birthed it, but the results aren’t that bad. 

They’re not anything extraordinary, but nothing like the reputation that the film might carry.

Milo (acted by Seth Green and voiced by Seth Dusky) is your typical youth.  He doesn’t want to take out the trash for his mom (Joan Cusack) or eat his broccoli.  When he is bribed with watching a zombie movie, he pretends to eat his broccoli but really feeds it to the cat. 

When the cat barfs it all over the floor his mother discovers the deception and sends him to bed.  He counters with “I’d be better off without you.” 

This, of course, upsets his mother but Milo dozes off.  When he is awakened in the night he feels bad and wants to apologize.  What he finds in mom’s room is that a glowing light and alien soldiers spiriting his mom away.  He follows them and stows away aboard their spaceship. 

He finds himself on Mars, which is ruled by the vicious Supervisor (Mindy Sterling).  She had been observing mom from afar and decided that she had the qualities that would be needed to raise Martian kids.

The process that will put them into the robotic nannies will also put an end to mom.  So now Milo has to team up with stranded human Gribble (Dan Fogler) and the rebellious Martian Ki (Elisabeth Harnois) to take on the Supervisor’s elite army, rescue mom before the sunrise obliterates her, and maybe even restore familial order on the red planet.  Sounds easy right?

Actually the concept of Mars Needs Moms may have also sounded like a surefire hit to ImageMovers Digital and parent company Disney.  However, a tepid trailer only seemed to fire up disdain that eventually led to one of the worst openings. 

The $150 million dollar production made only $6 million on its opening weekend and even Hollywood math couldn’t make up the difference when it was all said and done. 

Robert Zemeckis had founded ImageMovers and made several successful films some using the motion capture process.  In 2007, the company came under the Disney umbrella and made A Christmas Carol with the new moniker ImageMovers Digital. 

After the failure of Mars Needs Moms the company was shuttered… only to announce a revival under Universal Studios in 2011. 

The film Polar Express might be the most widely known product of ImageMovers and is a Christmas tradition around my place.  Much complaint into the soulless eyes of the motion capture resulting product. 

Mars needs Moms may be a little soulless, but the result of motion capturing Seth Green and digitally youthening him only makes him look like a Hobbit-sized version of himself. 

It takes a bit of time to get used to that look.  I’m not familiar with Berkely Breathed’s original story, but my understanding is that it is a picture book. This resulting film is probably actioned up and mostly likely will alienate those who adore the original book. 

The resulting film isn’t exactly horrible, but it just feels very derivative and not exactly special.  You’d think that director Simon Wells would have a familiarity with that Martian landscape since his great grand-pappy was H.G. Wells, the famous science fiction author.

He doesn’t exactly make H.G. roll over in the grave but he doesn’t make him set up and say “tally ho” either.  It may be an enjoyable evening for the kids, just don’t expect anything beyond what a dozen other kids’ film have to offer. 

Mars needs Moms is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1).  Special features, all in high definition, include the picture-in-picture “Life on Mars” motion capture footage, 30 minutes of deleted scenes introduced by Wells, the 3 minute “Martian 101” about the Martian language, and the 2 minute “Fun with Seth” has the actor goofing on the set.  Disc two provides a DVD copy of the film.

Mars needs Moms needed a little more something besides more dollars at the box offices.  The film, perhaps unjustly so, earned a dark cloud that kept it from going anywhere. 

It’s not exactly a film that you haven’t seen a dozen times before, but it isn’t the box office dog that you may have thought.  The kids may find something to enjoy… unless mom sends them to bed without watching it.

Visit the DVD database for more information.