Nine-year-old Milo (Seth Green’s captured motion, Seth Dusky’s voice) believes he has a tough life. The way he sees it, his dad (Tom Everett Scott) isn’t home enough, and his mother (Joan Cusack) gives him endless chores. Not only does he have to come in for dinner, but he has to close the door behind him. not only does he have to endure dinner before watching his favorite zombie movie on DVD, but he has to eat broccoli, too. The list goes on, but you get my drift.
When Milo’s misbehavior prompts his mother to punish him with an early bedtime, little does he know, as tells his mom, “My life would be so much better if I didn’t have a mother,” that her efforts to discipline him have caught the attention of a space ship from Mars. The crew’s mission is to find a mother whose brains might be sucked out and uploaded into their army of nannybots, the robots Martians use to raise their hatchlings. By the time Milo decides to apologize, he’s surprised to find his mother being taken off in a spaceship. He can barely run fast enough to keep up and then stow away on the departing ship.
On Mars, Milo sets out to rescue his mom before the evil Martians can suck what is needed out of her brain, before they execute her at dawn. Milo meets a grown-up human boy named Gribble (Dan Fogler) who went through a similar fate years earlier, and is scared by the experience of having watched his mother die. So much so that he’s not inclined to help Milo save his mom and get off Mars. Or more specifically, he’s not prone to believe it can be done.
However, Gribble lies to his new “buddy” and pretends to help him. Things change when they discover an unexpected ally among the Martians, a soldier named Ki (Elisabeth Harnois) who loves American TV of the ‘70s, and longs for parents. Gribble’s crush on Ki makes his robot pet vomit nuts and bolts; Ki is bowled over by the human inclination to blush. But really, the point (which we’ve known from almost the beginning of the film), is that Mil9o has learned he does indeed need his mom.
The story, based on a children’s book by the cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is a good one, and while the film doesn’t quite come together, it’s not bad. Director Simon Wells does a good job of toning down some of the stories obnoxious overtones and playing to the important relationships at its core. The film’s biggest issue is Wells’ script. Too much of the picture ends up falling into the chase-escape trap; I’m surprised he didn’t get a little bored, writing the same scenario repeatedly.
Even so, Mars Needs Moms has moments of fun and tenderness. While the film isn’t nearly as good as it could’ve been, this one is a good family movie for a cold, rainy night.
Disney’s 1080p Blu-ray transfer is almost perfect. While I did notice some brief banding, the color, contrast, and clarity are top-notch. Detail and textures are flawless throughout. Artifacting, aliasing, and other digital anomalies are nonexistent. Yet another top notch transfer from Disney.
Disney delivers awesome sound, thanks to this DTS-Master Audio 7.1 track. Even though I have a 5.1 setup, it was a very impressive, immersive experience. Atmosphere noises come from just about every angle, and the bass was floor shaking. Overall though, it delivers a nice “you are there” type of experience. Despite a mixture of sounds, nothing gets in the way of the dialogue.
The Blu-ray edition of Mars Needs Moms touches down with a Picture-in-Picture Bonus View experience, an audio commentary, a series of deleted scenes and other small features. We also get a Standard DVD.
- Life on Mars: The Full Motion-Capture Experience (HD): Disney’s Picture-in-Picture motion-capture experience can be viewed two ways: with or without audio commentary featuring writer/director Simon Wells and actors Seth Green and Dan Fogler. With the commentary, Wells, Green and Fogler deliver a chatty, informative overview of the production — from script to motion-capture stage to computer animation to screen — while a PiP window showcases the cast’s live performances and the animators’ early animatics. Without the commentary, fans are treated to the same PiP content, with the actors’ actual on-set voices, meaning it’s Green’s words, not those of Seth Dusky, that come out of Milo’s mouth. There’s no way to listen to the audio commentary without viewing the PiP experience.
- Deleted Scenes (HD, 29 minutes): Wells introduces seven deleted and extended scenes, some of which are presented via finalized animation, others comprised of early animatics, while others utilize both. Cuts include “Begonia Attack,” “Ad-libs from Gribble’s Lair,” “Swinging Bride,” “Angry George Ribble,” “Gribble Growing Up,” “Mars Memorial” and an “Extended Opening.”
- Martian 101 (HD, 3 minutes): Wells and his cast discuss creating the Martians’ language.
- Fun with Seth (HD, 2 minutes): Seth Green has fun on set.
