Review of film: "MARS NEEDS MOMS"

2011, 02-15:

Review of film:  “MARS NEEDS MOMS”

                  Has “Outsourcing” Gone a Bit TOO FAR?!...

As this movie starts, a Martian “Supervisor” (voiced by MINDY STERLING) has planned for the abduction of “another” Earth Mother…  It seems Mars has an inability to provide proper moms to raise their own “hatchling” KIDS, & so they’ve “out-sourced” really far to find an “apropos” subject…

…  After “checking-out” some candidates & rejecting them (for their bad attitudes & all), they eventually choose the Mom (JOAN CUSACK) who wisely raises her son Milo (voiced by SETH GREEN)…  They abduct her onto their spaceship, & Seth runs out to try to SAVE her (& gets onboard the ship)…

…  Once they arrive on Mars, they transfer to the underground civilization area where there are only FEMALES…  Seth tries to escape & an unseen male voice is heard urging him to jump thru a trash chute, which he does…

…  Once he arrives at the trash-heap area, besides the strange-looking “outcast” natives, he eventually finds another ESCAPED Earthling guy who’d tried to protect his own mother previously.  That guy calls himself “Gribble” (played in animated “stop-motion” form by DAN FOGLER, who’s in the about-to-be-released “TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT”)…

…  Dan has constructed a robotic creature named “Wingnut” (voiced by KEVIN CAHOON), & Dan eventually comes up with a “plan” to try to help Seth FIND & save his mother…  But, Dan is often inept at what he does, & Seth gets in a lot of TROUBLE from trying to follow his plans…

   

…  Luckily for Seth, there’s an “independent” female Martian named Ki (ELISABETH HARNOIS) who likes painting “Mar-fiti” (Mars graffiti) around to upset the “authorities”, & she works to PROTECT Seth from those in power…

…  There are various side characters, such as:  Aliens voiced by BRECKIN MILLER & BILLY DEE WILLIAMS;  Hatchlings played by Ryan, Robert & Raymond Ochoa; and various others…

…  Will Seth be able to SAVE his mother before she’s turned into a “Martian” to care for their Hatchlings?...  Will Elisabeth be able to convince others to join her “side” in opposing the “establishment”?...  What will happen to Dan & the out-of-power “natives”?...

…  This film was directed by ROBERT ZEMECKIS.  It uses the special motion-capture technique he  pioneered with Tom Hanks in “POLAR EXPRESS” & later used in Disney’s “A CHRISTMAS CAROL”, wherein people are fitted with special “sensors”, & their movements are “copied” onto a COMPUTER which then uses CGI to put some revised “FACES” on the bodies that use the movements the sensors had picked-up…

…  During the last 5 minutes or so of the CREDITS, you can SEE examples of the way they SHOT the sensored movements for Seth (whose face & body is much different on-screen) & Dan (whose face & body are much closer to his “NORMAL” looks)…  It’s quite interesting, & shows how much “green-screen” special effects were needed to produce the film…

…  As to the movie itself, it’s surprisingly GOOD.  The trailers made it look like it might be on the “silly” side, but it’s actually not that way:  it follows a carefully-constructed story-line with some good “MESSAGES” for kids (about appreciating their real families), the acting & animation are quite good, & there’s effective humor in it also (all elements which were appreciated by the many kids in the audience)…

…  I saw it in IMAX (which is always a pleasure) & in 3-D (which was effective & not “over-done”).  Because of the cute & enjoyable work done, I’m rating it 8 out of 10 stars…

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