I believe that a successful animated film is able target an audience of all ages, not just children under the age of ten. Mars Needs Moms, directed by Simon Wells, is not enjoyable for any age group. The themes are too dark and politically-charged for young children, and adults can recognize the politically-incorrect messages from a mile away.
Milo (mo-capped by Seth Green, voiced by Seth Dusky), a nine- year old boy, has to find his mom (Joan Cusack), who’s been transplanted to Mars. The aliens’ plan to use Milo’s mom’s mind to program the nanny-bots (yes, it is really called that in the film) to discipline the children of Mars. Milo meets another human, Gribble (Dan Fogler), and a subversive alien named Ki (Elisabeth Harnois). Together, they try to find Milo’s mom.
This sci-fi action animated movie is shallowly covered in glitz. The colors are brilliant, but much of the use of color and light seem to be taken directly from Tron: Legacy. The cast is decent, but the motion-capture animation and the acting going on behind the hollow eyes lacks vision. The cast physically-acted out the scenes in sensory capture suits, their movements later digitized to create an animated texture. The film might as well been a live-action movie with CGI effects.
This film had extremely unlikeable characters. Who are we to root for, if none of them have great qualities? The characters are simplistic and superficial. Milo is a brat, who realizes that he loves his mom. Gribble is an annoying and cowardly adult version of Milo. Milo’s mom is pretty much sedentary throughout the film. Ki has more depth than any character in the film; she is rebellious, caring, and concerns about the history of her race. Even so, she is presented in an overwhelmingly hyperactive manner.
The alien race is totally separated by gender in this film. Female aliens are futuristic, domineering, identical, cold-hearted, etc. Males are presented as fun-loving, dancing, happy, colorful aliens. Is this film trying to suggest something? I think so. Even Milo points out to his mom that the males are the good guys and the females are the bad guys. Although presented in a good light, the male aliens are discredited in other ways. They are unintelligent and primitive. Their costuming (tribal paint) helps to indicate their exoticism and are modeled after the noble savage, an idealized “other.” This film does not handle race and gender delicately.
What is a family? Mars Needs Moms foolishly answers this question at the end of the film: A family is a unit that consists of a male, a female and a child. In another words, a heterosexual nuclear family. Different types of families are not at all acknowledged or appreciated in this film.
The best part of Mars Needs Moms is the end credits. The audience can see how the acting was performed through the use of the motion-capture. The actions sequences are also satisfactory. If you are in the mood for a sci-fi movie set in space, please watch Star Wars. If you want to see an animated movie about family? Please watch just about anything else out there.
