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Mars Needs Moms

Play trailer Poster for Mars Needs Moms PG 2011 1h 28m Kids & Family Comedy Sci-Fi Adventure Animation Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
34% Tomatometer 111 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Milo is a 9-year-old boy who has a lot on his mind; he has monster movies to watch, comic books to read and all other kinds of fun stuff to accomplish. He definitely does not have time to do homework or eat his vegetables. He's getting tired of his mom nagging him to do these things, and his mom is tired of nagging. But just as Milo is telling his mom that life would be more fun without her, Martians kidnap her. Milo stows away on their spaceship, determined to launch a rescue.
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Mars Needs Moms

Mars Needs Moms

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Critics Consensus

The cast is solid and it's visually well-crafted, but Mars Needs Moms suffers from a lack of imagination and heart.

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Critics Reviews

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Jim Schembri The Age (Australia) 04/13/2011
4/5
What really sells this fabulous, kid-friendly 3D adventure to anybody over eight (no offense, kids) is its astonishing visuals, which uses motion-capture technology to a degree that surpasses what we saw in Avatar. Go to Full Review
Jake Wilson The Age (Australia) 04/13/2011
1.5/5
The credited director is Simon Wells (The Time Machine), but the grotesque characters and dark action bear the Zemeckis stamp. Go to Full Review
Philip French Guardian 04/10/2011
Children are unlikely to enjoy it, and parents will be aching for a few stiff drinks in a Mars bar long before it's over. Go to Full Review
Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review 07/31/2023
1/4
An unsightly experience of motion-capture computer animation comprised of far too many so-called technological advances. Go to Full Review
Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com 09/16/2020
2.0/4.0
A decent flick that could have been so much more. Go to Full Review
Debbie Lynn Elias Behind The Lens 11/16/2019
I just love Simon Wells' sense of adventure and with Mars Needs Moms, he soars. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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TheMovieSearch R @TheMovieSearch 3d Mars Needs Moms is one of those movies where I understand what it was trying to accomplish, but I struggled to stay invested in the story. The concept is interesting, and there are some creative ideas throughout, but the story often felt disconnected and difficult to follow. I never felt completely pulled into the adventure, and that made the movie feel much longer than it actually was. I wouldn’t call it an awful film, but I also wouldn’t say it is something I’m excited to recommend. There are moments that work, but there are also plenty of missed opportunities where the story could have developed into something much more memorable. What really surprised me is how completely forgotten this movie feels. I genuinely didn’t remember it existed until I decided to watch it again. Then, while watching it, I understood why I had forgotten it in the first place. There simply isn’t enough about the movie that stays with you after the credits. See more diogo13 T @Tua_mera Jul 12 Uma animação bizarra e sem vida, prejudicada por gráficos desconfortáveis e uma história sem sal. Falha na comédia, falha no drama e torna-se um teste à paciência de qualquer espectador. See more Evan I. @WhyteTiger Mar 16 I loved this movie as a kid I hate how everyone hates it! See more Noah H @Noah85 Dec 23 OMG, SOOOOOO BOOOORRRRIINNGG! The Polar Express and The Adventures of Tintin were SOOOO much better. WHAT HAPPENED, IMAGEMOVERS?!?! This movie has NO EMOTIONAL CORE AT ALL. The story is as simple and as surface level as can be. There's no lessons to be learned. The whole plot is: Boy loses his mother to aliens. He attempts to save her. He succeeds. The end. It's just going through the motions. All the aliens were COMPLETELY boring. I didn't give a damn about ANY of them. Most of the human characters including the boy and his mother were boring too. I didn't give a damn about them either. HOWEVER, the only character I found fun in this was Gribble. He was the star of the show for me. He had a lot of funny moments. Otherwise, this film was filled with paper-thin characters that will probably BORE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND. If you want a good motion-capture animated movie, watch The Polar Express or The Adventures of Tintin instead. Rating: 2/10. See more Ry R. @CinephileGuy Sep 1 Mars Needs Moms is Disney’s biggest failure yet. Some of the animation is good…but the character designs are so unnatural! I could tell they worked hard to make it realistic…but why can’t it be live action! From the trailers…I knew this movie wouldn’t be that good. Then it took me a few weeks to get over it, so I watched it on vacation…I’ll give it that it’s enjoyable at times…but this movie is not really taking the emotional parts seriously! It just is so wacky, until it realizes it should be emotional…but many other movies did it better, maybe not the worst in history, but it’s just sad to see that Disney failed big time here because it’s still one of my favorite studios. See more Paul S @PManRager 08/06/2025 The overambitious animation style resulted in wonky visuals. Despite this shortcoming, I thought this movie was amazing! The story was heartwarming and compelling, and it was so much fun to watch. I definitely recommend it! See more Read all reviews
Mars Needs Moms

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Movie Info

Synopsis Milo is a 9-year-old boy who has a lot on his mind; he has monster movies to watch, comic books to read and all other kinds of fun stuff to accomplish. He definitely does not have time to do homework or eat his vegetables. He's getting tired of his mom nagging him to do these things, and his mom is tired of nagging. But just as Milo is telling his mom that life would be more fun without her, Martians kidnap her. Milo stows away on their spaceship, determined to launch a rescue.
Director
Simon Wells
Producer
Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, Steven Boyd
Screenwriter
Simon Wells, Wendy Wells
Distributor
Walt Disney
Production Co
ImageMovers
Rating
PG (Sci-Fi Action and Peril)
Genre
Kids & Family, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Animation
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 11, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$21.4M
Runtime
1h 28m
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