In this animation movie, Milo is a young boy with the voice of Seth Dusky. The actor Seth Green was used to create all the motion capture for Milo's actions. Milo's Mom (with the voice of Joan Cusack) tells him that he has to eat his broccoli or he will not be able to watch television. Milo just wants to have fun and do as he pleases, so he wishes his mom would stop giving him chores to do and rules to follow. He wants her to just go away and leave him alone. In the middle of the night, Martians come to earth. They kidnap his mom because they have been observing her parenting skills in secret. They think she is the right combination of a strict but also loving mom. Mars needs moms like this to use to program the robots that raise the Martian children. They want to extract her essence and use it to program robots that serve as nannies on Mars. After she is kidnapped, Milo realizes he needs to go to Mars to save his mom so he sneaks onto a rocket ship bound for Mars.
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When he lands on Mars he is captured but escapes by jumping down the garbage chute. At the garbage dump he finds another human boy Gribble (with the voice of Dan Fogler) that is part of the resistance. Gribble lost his Mom to the Martians many years prior. Gribble is trying to figure out a way to defeat them, so he agrees to help Milo in his attempt to get Milo's mother back. Milo also meets a Martian girl named Ki (with the voice of Elisabeth Harnois) who is a free spirit. Ki also agrees to help him get his mother back before they remove her essence and destroy her. Ki and Milo discover ancient cave paintings showing that Mars used to be like earth with families. But the evil Martian Supervisor (with the voice of Mindy Sterling) tracks them down with the help of her robot army. Ki shows everyone the ancient drawings of how life used to be on Mars. This revelation causes the army turns against the Supervisor.
Milo's helmet gets cracked in the fighting. Milo almost dies until his mom gives her helmet to him. Gribble comes to the rescue and gives Milo's mom another helmet. Milo and his Mom are reunited. Milo asks her to forgive his bad behavior. She of course loves her son, so there is no question about whether she can forgive him. She is just so happy to see him.
Best part of story, including ending:
This story shows a good mom is not necessarily a permissive one, or an overly strict one either, but some nice balance of kindness and firmness at the same time.
Best scene in story:
I like the scene with Ki discovers how to make an explosion of colors because it represents the freedom and the beauty that is the antithesis of the robot-dominated society
Opinion about the main character:
Milo is a good kid, that finds himself in unusual circumstances. When he realizes what he must do, he does not hesitate to save his mom.
