Mars Needs Moms (3D)

Movie: Mars Needs Moms (3D)

Genre: animated science fiction

Synopsis: Milo (Seth Green) is a bit of a challenge to his mother (Joan Cusack), but she does her best.  It seems that Mars has a problem – they have a bunch of kids but no moms to raise them.  They decide to kidnap Milo’s mother, take her back to Mars and replicate her mothering skills.  Milo sees the kidnapping and stows away aboard the spaceship.  The rest of the movie follows Milo has he gets to Mars and finds a couple of allies in his quest to find and rescue his mother.

My two cents: There were a few funny scenes, but on the whole I thought this movie pretty much fell flat.  I do realize that one cannot expect a lot of realism in a children’s animated movie . . . but this was just too much.  Kid’s might like it -  but I would not be my life on it.

And I add this movie to my ever growing list of 3D movies that gained nothing by being in 3D – other than more money for my ticket.  I really wish movie makers could show some restraint and only use 3D in movies that truly benefit from it.  Movies like Avatar or Beowulf or How to Train Your Dragon.  This movie just wasted it.

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Battle: Los Angeles

Movie: Battle: Los Angeles

Genre: Science Fiction

Synopsis: What seems to be a bunch of meteors entering the earth’s atmosphere turns out to be the spaceships of an alien race.  They land at 20+ cities around the world and immediately start killing.  The theory is that they want the earth for its water and intend to wipeout the human race.  The movie follows a squadron of Marines lead by Staff Sargent Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) as they try to complete a rescue mission during the Los Angeles invasion.

My two cents: The movie had a lot of great special effects during multiple battles and firefights.  But . . . there was too much that did not make sense.  Without giving anything away, I will just say that the movie was too inconsistent and expected too much of a leap of faith.

Bottom line: if you are really into loud battle scenes, see it in the theater – otherwise wait for it to come to TV.

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