|
The
lead up to
Mars
Needs Moms
was
promising. A great
story by Berkely
Breathed was finally
getting an
adaptation to film.
The PR machine was
rolling and then… it
kind of dropped off
the face of the
planet. The movie
flopped in theatres,
the reason behind
the poor box office
showing? Robert
Zemeckis’ motion
capture animation
studio Image Movers
Digital was behind
the project. I
honestly think that
people saw the
animation was done
with mo-cap and were
immediately turned
off.
In
Mars
Needs Moms,
Milo is a young kid
who’s decent enough.
He’s a bit
mischievous, but
he’s also a good
kid. He takes out
the garbage and does
his chores. He puts
up a fight all the
time, but he does
what he’s told.
Martians noticed
this and chose to
target Milo’s mom to
become the mother
figure for Mars’
little ones. So,
after a fight Milo
awakens in the
middle of the night
to apologize to his
mom, only when he
goes to apologize,
his mom is whisked
away by aliens and
abducted. Milo stows
away on the space
craft and heads to
Mars to save his
mom. Once on Mars he
befriends Gribble,
the only other human
on the planet and a
tech-savvy
survivalist. He also
earns Ki as a
friend, a young
female martian who
doesn’t agree with
the rest of the
planet’s uptight
beliefs and approach
to life. The three
set out on a mission
to save Milo’s mom
and to save the
planet of Mars from
the tyranny that it
has endured for the
past several years.
I
want to be clear on
Image Mover Digital;
I think the actual
animation behind the
movie is great. It’s
the motion capture
animation that
struggles. Facial
expressions get lost
with characters and
some weird eye
movements take the
humanistic qualities
out of characters.
Some actors look
great with the
animation; Dan
Fogler’s Gribble
looks decent enough
for the most part in
Mars
Needs Moms.
Joan
Cusack’s character
looks bizarrely odd
and creepy. Early on
in screen tests they
should have seen
this, because it
just doesn’t look
natural. None of her
expressions do;
anger, joy, fear,
etc. they all look
weird. Some
animation looks
great, basically the
structure of the
characters and the
environments. It’s
just those facial
expressions that
push it away from
where it should be.
The animation just
doesn’t do a story
like this justice, I
can’t help but think
that if they avoided
the mo-cap
experience that this
would be a better
movie. The 3D
animation is great,
it’s just sad that
the emotion of the
characters couldn’t
come through better.
What’s great with
Mars
Needs Moms?
That’s easy, it’s
the story. Yes it
bounces around all
over the place but
it never gets boring
and it’s fun to
follow. There’s
action and mystery
and suspense and the
character
development is
extremely strong. We
know Milo by the end
of the movie and we
feel that we know Ki
and Gribble too. The
humor isn’t the best
, but the character
development and the
veined plot line are
easy and enjoyable
to follow.
As far as extras go,
there’s quite a bit
with Mars Needs
Moms, including a 3D
deleted scene that’s
exclusive on 3D.
There’s also a
motion capture
picture in picture
experience, a short
feature where we get
to watch Seth Green
going crazy, and a
feature where the
directors of the
film talk about how
they came up with
the martian
language.
Mars
Needs Moms
failed at the box
office and thus
Image Movers Digital
failed (the studio
is now defunct) but
there’s plenty to
watch and enjoy on
blu-ray. The
storyline is great
and even though the
humor is a tad weak,
the action and the
adventure of this
movie make up for
it.
Mars
Needs Moms
is a must watch for
3D enthusiasts and
for families.
|