An unsightly experience of motion-capture computer animation comprised of far too many so-called technological advances.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Jul 31, 2023

A decent flick that could have been so much more.

| Original Score: 2.0/4.0 | Sep 16, 2020

I just love Simon Wells' sense of adventure and with Mars Needs Moms, he soars.

| Nov 16, 2019

With a more inventive storyline, Mars Needs Moms could have been an out-of-this-world cinematic experience. As is, the animated film offers an entertaining romp that will play best to the preschool and grade-school set and, yes, their moms.

| Aug 15, 2018

A badly animated, dispassionate and irresolute mess.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 13, 2018

Here is a movie that seems at war with the notion that animation can inspire or invigorate.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Jan 31, 2014

Mars Needs Moms actually entertained me. There's the bright colors and great 3D, but there's also some touching moments and grown-up wit

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jun 2, 2013

Mars Needs Moms isn't as bad as you've heard, nor is it as good as it could have been. Will it entertain your family? That depends on how much your kids like mo-cap technology, and how much attention they pay to the inner logic of a film.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 29, 2011

A solid, vibrant family film that parents and young-ish nippers can enjoy together.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 22, 2011

a disposable family adventure it more than fits the bill

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 1, 2011

As with a good live-action movie, it all begins with the script, and this one is solid-well thought-out, briskly paced, funny and sweet. In the end, it's the finished film that matters, not the process...

Full Review | Aug 12, 2011

The whole fiasco turns out to be an excuse to let Seth Green play a (redubbed) little boy. Next time, maybe just cast a real boy, build some sets in an old barn, and have Mom make the costumes. [Blu-ray 3D]

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Aug 8, 2011

An extraordinary achievement in character expressiveness and realistic movement limited by a storyline for a pre-middle school audience.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 2, 2011

Mars Needs Moms dares to venture into some sad, tragic territory which, in a perverse way, made the film a bit more enjoyable and prevented it from being completely underwhelming

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 20, 2011

Infused with a half-baked psychedelic ethos, incorporating some rather incongruous imagery that is supposed to tie in with its simple-minded politics regarding ideas of child rearing and gender roles.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 5, 2011

If Mars Needs Moms had not have been produced using the mo-cap process -- which still hasn't fixed the problem where some folk have a spooky, neither-alive-nor-dead look -- it might have stood more chance of finding an audience.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 14, 2011

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.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 13, 2011

The credited director is Simon Wells (The Time Machine), but the grotesque characters and dark action bear the Zemeckis stamp.

| Original Score: 1.5/5 | Apr 13, 2011

full review at Movies for the Masses

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 13, 2011

Most kids (and any accompanying parents) will find this to be of a noticeably lower standard than many of the other children's films that have been released recently.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 12, 2011