This movie is a little bit childish and I believe it will be enjoyed more by teenagers. However it is watchable and the special effects are good. The acting is also good. But it wasn't as good as I had hoped. It 's not really a movie about Mars or how it could affect the first human born there but a love story between two teenagers.

Visionary leader Nathaniel Shepherd (Gary Oldman) organizes the first Martian settlement, East Texas. Sarah Elliot is one of the six astronauts to be the first settlers. Everybody is shock to find that she's pregnant. Fearing a PR nightmare, her pregnancy and her subsequent childbirth death is covered up. Sixteen years later, Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield) has been raised in secret by scientists like Kendra Wyndham (Carla Gugino). His only friends are a robot and an online friend, foster kid Tulsa (Britt Robertson),who doesn't know his true identity. His upbringing on Mars has left him incapable of living in Earth's gravity. He manages to escape and with Tulsa's help, goes in search for his unknown father.

Britt Robertson is getting a little old to play a teenager but it actually works well for this character. She's world-weary which matches well with the fish-out-of-water Asa Butterfield. The age difference brings out the experience difference in the two characters. They make for a cute couple.

The main problem is the set-up and the questions that arise. One must ignore a lot of these nagging questions. The kid has trouble with 1g but he has to endure multiple gs in his travels. It's also a pretty big secret to be kept by NASA. The distance between Earth and Mars is about 10 light minutes which would make online communications noticeably delayed. The questions keep pilling on and on. A few more rewrites are required.

Gardner Eliot (Asa Butterfield) was born on Mars. His mother dies at childbirth. The company owned by Nathaniel Shepherd (Gary Oldman) opts to keep it all a secret. Eliot develops an on-line relationship with a foster girl named Tulsa (Britt Robertson) who doesn't like Earth boys. She doesn't know Eliot is on Mars because they ignored the fact there are several minutes in time delay between the planets. One of those silly speed of light things. Eliot longs to see Earth, but will have issues if he returns.

This is like a bubble boy escapes and the film has two choices for an ending, one happy and one very sad.

The love story aspect was a bit lame and not believable.It is a film aimed at kids who might like some geek aspect to their love story in spite of the fact science was on the top in some scenes and ignored in others.

Guide: No F-words. Brief implied sex.