There once was a very bad movie called “Mars Needs Women,” which became a cult picture almost entirely on the strength of its cheesy title. I don’t need to remind you that it came from the director of “Zontar: The Thing from Venus.”
This cultural reference will (and surely ought to) be lost on the key demographic for “Mars Needs Moms,” a new Disney 3-D animated spectacle. In contrast to, say, “Rango,” which is basically a grown-up comedy masquerading as family fare, “Mars Needs Moms” is a breathless, flat-out kiddie adventure.
As such, it delivers the goods. The hero is 9-year-old Milo (voiced by Seth Green), whose strict mom (Joan Cusack) has come to the attention of Martians.
Who knew the Martians needed a strong maternal model to provide guidance to their own newborns? When they send a spaceship to kidnap this example of American motherhood, Milo gives chase, and stows away for the flight to Mars.
There he finds robots, hippie Martians, an evil wizened empress and a human named Gribble (Dan Fogler, of “Take Me Home Tonight“). Gribble is a roly-poly manchild who is overjoyed to see another Earthling in the mix.
There’s also Ki (Elizabeth Harnois), a female robot who secretly paints the colorless walls of the Martian world with day-glo graffiti tags. In the grand tradition of science fiction movie epics, she wears skintight outfits as part of her planetary garb.
Most of the characters in the film are rendered in the “Polar Express” style of motion-capture animation; Gribble, in particular, very much resembles the actor who plays him, with exceptional detail in his facial expressions and gestures. Depending on whether you like Dan Fogler’s manic energy (and I do), this will be a plus or a minus.
Director Simon Wells (who did the live-action “Time Machine“) and his team have opted for a breakneck pace and a smattering of sentiment along the way. This means the movie has more comedy than charm, even if Milo convincingly learns a lesson about listening to your mom when she tells you to eat your broccoli.
While it sacrifices a certain Disney magic in favor of action, the film is attuned to the movie-watching metronome of kids, that’s for sure. Even if you find it a little on the tin-plated side, “Mars Needs Moms” won’t wear out its welcome with its target audience.
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