Mars Needs Moms, Disney’s newest movie, opens on March 11, 2011. Disney invited Mamanista to a special preview of the movie last weekend, and it didn’t disappoint.
Nine-year-old Milo’s mom bugs him to take out the trash and eat his broccoli. As punishment for disobeying her, he’s sent to his room instead of watching a favorite movie on TV. And he hurtfully tells his mom that his life would be better off without her.
Moms can relate. One of the worst parts of being a mom is having to be the disciplinarian, but setting boundaries is an essential part of parenting. In fact, the Martians, who are in need of someone to parent their children, kidnap Milo’s mom because she is doing such a good job.
With his mom in trouble, it’s up to Milo and his new friends, a tech-savvy man named Gribble and a rebel Martian girl named Ki, to rescue her. Mars Needs Moms is an action-packed 3-D adventure that involves stowing away on a spaceship, jumping down trash chutes, navigating an alien planet and standing up to an army of Martians.
I attended the movie with my 11 and 12 year-old goddaughters, who really enjoyed it. The 7 and 9 year-old boys sitting in front of us at the screening also loved it. I would highly recommend this movie with the warning that Mars Needs Moms is rated PG and not G.
Some parts of the movie scared the younger children in the audience. During one pivotal scene, Milo trips and breaks his space helmet. When Milo’s mom gave him her helmet and then passed out from lack of oxygen, several children in the movie theater started to sob.
Adults and older children know that Disney cartoons always end happily, but several of the younger children in the audience were scared. To them, it looked like Milo’s mom was going to die. If your child is particularly sensitive, you may want to skip this movie or discuss this scene prior to going.
(Disclosure: Disney comped our movie passes, but the opinions expressed here are our own.)
