Not recommended under 7, PG to 10 (Violence; Disturbing scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 7 | Not suitable due to violence and disturbing scenes |
Children aged 7-9 | Not recommended due to violence and disturbing scenes |
Children aged 10 and over | OK for this age group |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Mars needs Moms |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild science fiction violence and some upsetting scenes |
Length: | 88 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
After disobeying his mother (voiced by Joan Cusack), nine-year-old Milo (voice of Seth Dusky, performance capture by Seth Green) is forbidden to watch his favourite TV program and is sent to bed, telling his mother, “My life would be so much better if I didn’t have a mom.” Milo later goes to his mother’s room to apologise, but discovers Martians in the process of abducting her. Milo chases the Martians and through a comedy of errors ends up as a stowaway aboard the Martian spaceship.
When the ship reaches Mars, Milo finds that the planet is ruled by female Martians, who quickly discover Milo and place him in a prison cell. With the assistance of an unseen source, Milo escapes via a garbage chute that leads him to a giant Martian rubbish dump. Milo finds the rubbish dump populated by hundreds of Martian males and one human male. Gribble (Dan Fogler) is a techno genius who has been a castaway on Mars since he, like Milo, came as a boy. Through Gribble, Milo learns that every 25 years a batch of Martian babies are born. The males are discarded while the females are raised by nanny-bots. These robots are programmed with the memories of a single human mother, which is why the Martians needed Milo’s Mom. When Milo learns that the memory extraction process will kill his mother, he enlists Gribble’s help to devise a rescue plan.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Loss of a parent; aliens
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
Mars needs Moms contains scenes of family argument, action violence and peril that are at times intense. Examples include:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this age group are also likely to be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes.
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Younger children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes.
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Nothing of concern
None of concern
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
Infrequent low-level coarse language, name calling and putdowns include:
Mars Needs Moms is a 3D animated science fiction adventure targeting primary school aged children, but also likely to entertain older viewers. The film’s animation is based upon motion-capture technology that gives the film a more realistic appearance and may have a greater impact on younger children in terms of scary images or disturbing scenes. Some of these scenes make it unsuitable for children under seven.
The main message from this movie is that, despite having to set guidelines, enforce rules and hand out punishments, parents love their children unconditionally.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
Parents may also wish discuss with their children the reasons why rules and boundaries need to be set, and how they provide children with a sense of security and a safer environment.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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