REVIEW: “Moms” funny with a heartfelt message

    I’ve looked forward to “Mars Needs Moms” ever since I saw the first trailer. When I viewed the full movie, I was entertained and surprised that it was as good as I’d hoped.

    “Mars Needs Moms” surprised me because many movies nowadays seem to put some of their funniest lines in the trailers in order to lure audiences in. I was pleased when I discovered the trailer had only scratched the surface of the humor.

    Milo (voiced by Seth Green) is a normal 9-year-old boy whose mother (Joan Cusack) makes him do his chores and eat his broccoli, just like any good mother would. After Milo disobeys his mother, they have an argument and Milo is sent to his room. When Milo later goes to apologize, he finds his mother being carried away by a spaceship.   

    During his attempt to rescue his mom, he gets caught up into the ship and travels to Mars.

    Once on Mars, Milo gets put into a cell by the aliens. After regaining consciousness, Milo attempts to escape, and somehow his cell opens. Following a mysterious voice, Milo finds another human named Gribble (Dan Fogler), a man with a past.

    Gribble answers a few questions Milo poses, including the biggest question of all: Why did aliens take my mom? Gribble grimly tells Milo that it’s because moms are needed to raise the Martian kids. Milo then sets out once again to rescue his mother, and that’s when the real fun begins.

    “Mars Needs Moms” is a great adventure story with a bit of everything: comedy, danger, romance and even a bit of sadness. It is closely based on the book of the same name by Berkeley Breathed.

    One of the lessons to be learned from this story is that you don’t realize how much you appreciate someone until they’re gone. How far would you go to protect your mother? Would you go all the way to Mars?

    I’ve enjoyed some of Simon Wells’ previous directorial releases, such as “The Prince of Egypt” and “The Time Machine,” and he certainly didn’t disappoint with his latest film. The style of “Mars Needs Moms” is similar to those in Wells’ other works, but it’s done in a fresh way.

    Green is as animated as ever. He does a superb job playing a less-than-perfect child determined to save his mother from harm.

    Cusack voices a loving mother trying to be a good parent, a different character than her recent adventures as Jessie in “Toy Story 3.” Although she plays a crucial part of the film, she isn’t in as many scenes as I would have thought, but it works in the scheme of the story.

    Fogler, who has previously starred in “Balls of Fury” and who played Zeng in “Kung Fu Panda” is his usual goofy self with a soft, emotional side. I was pleased with his performance.

    Elizabeth Harnois does a great job as an energetic Martian ready to help the humans escape. Mindy Sterling is hardly recognizable as an old grizzled Martian supervisor who leads the colony, but her voice acting was stellar.

    “Mars Needs Moms” is a movie that is only complete as a whole. All the pieces of the puzzle must fit together in order to get the best appreciation for the story. It may not be a deep thinking movie, but all the characters are developed well.

    The end credits were fascinating in that some behind the scenes were shown with the actors in a motion capture environment. I enjoyed the end credit scenes as much as some of the scenes in the movie itself. It was a good demonstration of how actors can continue to perform while creating a completely digital movie.

    John Powell’s score was excellent and painted the feelings of the movie incredibly. It has his usual orchestra melodies, but he blends in faint science fiction sounds that supplement the orchestra beautifully. One of the songs reminded me of one of the Ewok songs by John Williams in “Return of the Jedi,” but it was still an amusing song that brought smiles to everyone in the audience.

    The next time you see your mother, I challenge you to give her a hug and tell her how much you love her.

    This is a fun family flick that encourages family values. I laughed a lot. I cried a little. I think “Mars Needs Moms” will be underappreciated because of its predictability and lack of complexity, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.

– spencer.palmer@aggiemail.usu.edu