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Mars Needs Moms | 2011 | PG | - 1.4.1

After a boy's (voiced by Seth Green) mom (voiced by Joan Cusack) is kidnapped from Earth by Martians in need of mothering skills, he must work with a new friend (voiced by Dan Fogler) to free his mom, while gaining a new appreciation for all the work she does. Also with the voices of Elisabeth Harnois and Mindy Sterling. Directed by Simon Wells. [1:28]

SEX/NUDITY 1 - A man and a female alien exchange flirtatious looks at one another, and the man blushes. A man and a female alien hold hands. A man and a female alien stand with their arms wrapped around one another. Male and female aliens hug.
 Female aliens wear tight uniforms that reveal their curves. Baby aliens are seen not wearing clothing -- their bare buttocks, covered in hair, are seen on multiple occasions.
 A man jokes that he has a "sexy" tan.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - An elderly female alien uses a laser gun to break through a glass door and charges toward a boy and his mother: she fires her laser gun, it hits the boy on the foot (there's no blood), he trips and the glass globe around his head shatters on the ground, he gasps for air and his mother removes her breathing helmet and puts it on him; the boy holds the woman in his arms as she gasps for breath and appears to pass out (she is rescued later).
 We see a woman strapped to a gurney being vaporized after a ray of light hits her, and we hear that the woman was a boy's mother and that she had been kidnapped. A man tells a boy that a woman had been placed in a machine and her memory was extracted -- as we hear this story we see footage of a woman strapped to a gurney being struck by a ray of light and being vaporized (there's no blood).
 A man is grabbed by two female aliens, they drag him backward as he shouts that he has contagious diseases and that he is a bomb that will blow up a spaceship if they are to kill him, he is set in front of a firing squad (we see the burnt outline of an alien on a wall), a group of aliens draw their laser guns, and a boy swings in and tackles the aliens as they are about to fire. Several female aliens fire laser guns at a man, he is frozen in place surrounded by a blue light, the light flickers and the man drops to the ground, unharmed. A boy stands next to a man shackled at the feet and hands, he releases the foot shackles and then uses a laser gun to shoot a circle around them on the floor; the floor drops from beneath them as several female aliens fire lasers at them (they narrowly miss the man and the boy as they drop through the floor). A female alien shoves a boy and a man through a doorway (she is friendly but acting hostile), two other female aliens approach them, the first female alien then strikes them with two sticks, and they fall to the ground, unconscious (we see one move slightly, he is struck by a dog-like robot and falls back to sleep). A boy runs down a darkening hallway while two aliens chase after him, firing laser guns, and he dives down a tube moments before being hit. A group of female aliens corner a boy, with their guns drawn; the boy runs, two aliens grab him and shove him into an elevator, he escapes and we see the aliens firing laser guns down the hallway as the boy runs. A man and a boy fall off a small cliff trying to avoid the laser shots coming from a group of female aliens that are chasing them.
 A boy grabs a woman lying on a gurney and pulls her just as a large needle delivers a bolt of lightning (that presumably would have vaporized the woman) and she screams in confusion when she awakens. A boy runs after a spaceship that is carrying his mother, fully asleep and contained in a clear tube; he leaps onto the spaceship as it blasts away (we see his body shake from the blast).
 A female alien knocks a gun out of an elderly female alien's hand and a group of female aliens surround the older alien, guns drawn, and march away with the alien in the center. A female alien is instructed to shoot a boy and a man, she instead throws the gun to the boy, he catches it and runs away. A female alien jumps down an elevator shaft and lands in an elevator next to a boy that acts surprised.
 A boy accidentally hits his head on a ceiling while adjusting to walking in low gravity. A boy stumbles and falls onto a ledge overlooking a deep pit, the boy attempts to jump out of the pit, grabbing the edge of the pit, it begins to crumble and he is about to fall as a man grabs his hands and pulls him to safety. A boy slips off a ledge he is standing on, about to drop into a seemingly endless drop, a female alien sweeps in and lifts him up using a rope and the boy is unharmed. A boy hides in a room as two aliens look for him, he closes the door, the aliens bang on the door, he slowly lowers himself onto a ledge overlooking a deep pit, and he tiptoes around the ledge just as the aliens crash into the room; he is unharmed. A small dog-like robot drops a boy on top of a swinging bridge with gaps in the slats, the boy stumbles to walk across and he begins to hyperventilate but crosses unharmed. On two occasions a female alien uses a rappelling rope to lower and raise herself and a boy, and a boy and a man, and the man jokes that the rope will not hold his weight. A female alien accidentally steers a ship into a rock (she and the ship are unharmed). A boy stumbles through a pile of wreckage. A man stumbles backwards, hitting a wall (he is unharmed).
 A boy shoves a man, he then grabs the man's nipples (through his shirt) and the man shouts in pain and gets down on his knees; the boy releases. A boy stumbles and falls down a trash heap; he is unharmed. A small dog-like robot lands on top of a boy, rolls him over and lifts his body into the air, and they fly using a small hot air balloon. On multiple occasions we see an area inside a spaceship shaking (presumably from liftoff, etc.) and a boy is initially scared by the shaking but is unharmed. A boy walks as a building inside a spaceship shakes; he comes close to falling into a pit of fire but is unharmed.
 A boy stands up and threatens several male aliens, with his fists raised, and saying, "I know karate on the Wii"; he then drops his fists and the aliens hug him. A man screams in panic and tells a boy that an approaching alien will shoot them and the boy assures the man that the female alien is friendly. A boy and his mother shout angrily at one another, and the woman starts crying and walks away. A man tells a boy that an alien can shoot and kill a person. An older female alien shouts at another alien -- the dialogue is not translated. An older female alien shouts at a group of aliens -- the dialogue is not translated. A man half-jokingly shouts at a boy that he was scared when a boy used a laser gun to zap the set of handcuffs the man was wearing. A man half-jokingly tells a boy that he had almost shot his foot off with a laser gun. A man tells a boy that the boy should tell him to bring a change of underwear if he is going to fire a laser gun. A boy tells a woman that broccoli looks like brains and makes him "barf." A female alien tells a boy that she must wash paint off him or he will be punished. A man tells a boy that an alien is unhappy with graffiti "tags." A boy jokingly tells a woman that he is dedicated to the abolition of zombies. A boy tells a man that his mom will put bandages on his cuts. A boy asks if he has to eat a cat's vomit.
 A cat is heard retching and then wet sounds of vomit hitting the ground are heard; a woman discovers the cat vomit and shows it to a boy (we do not see it). A small dog-like robot is heard retching and we then see a pile of nuts and bolts come out of its mouth like vomit. An older female alien is seen diapering a baby alien: the diaper falls down and we see a stream of urine hitting the female alien in the face.
 We see footage of a boy with his foot stuck in a toilet and a man laughs at the footage as he watches. We see footage of a child throwing a tantrum, jumping up and down and throwing ice cream cones on the ground. Male aliens tackle a couple of robots and they topple the robots over like dominos.
 We see live-action actors performing the following: A man falls down a series of ramps (he is harnessed and unharmed); a man falls off a wall (he is harnessed and unharmed); and we hear a man telling a woman that he does not want to eat vomited up broccoli.

LANGUAGE 1 - 1 mild anatomical term, exclamations (heck, shut up, gosh, nuts), name-calling (stinker, idiot, Chachi, crazy, jerk, marching like a girl, school lunch lady, hippy, freakazoid, hairy tribe guys, dumb as a box of rocks, dummy, wingnut).

SUBSTANCE USE - We see a clip of a television program featuring two young people who act under the influence of drugs; no drug use is actually featured.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Aliens, Mars, alien abduction, Top Gun, Ronald Reagan, Communism, graffiti tagging, family, appreciating family members, revenge, jealousy, Disneyland, Dungeon and Dragons, Moonwalk, Cabbage Patch dolls, He-Man, Smurfberry Crunch, outer space exploration, gender equality, dishonesty.

MESSAGE - Always appreciate and love your family. Martians are not that different from humans.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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