John Carter (2012)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Released: February 9, 2012

My Rating:  
(Click here for more info on my rating scale)




Overall, in my opinion, John Carter is basically a two-and-a-half star film, but it hits enough high notes and sustains enough energy along the way to be enjoyable as a sci-fi blockbuster and scrape a three star rating from me.

            I saw John Carter in the theater on Friday, March 14.  I've never read the books that the movie is based on, but based on the reviews I've skimmed, I had pretty low expectations for the film.  And a lot of the negative aspects I sort of expected of the film were confirmed.  Overall, I didn't like the film, but I did sort of enjoy it a little, sort of as a guilty pleasure, almost.  The CGI is great, and very convincing, and I enjoyed the visual experience.  As for the story and other important aspects, the film is a bit weak.  There are many flaws in the film; there's no denying that.  The story is derivative, and it suffers from a somewhat sloppy and slightly convoluted plot.  Overall, in my opinion, it's basically a two-and-a-half star film, but it hits enough high notes and sustains enough energy along the way to be enjoyable as a sci-fi blockbuster and scrape a three star rating from me.
            The movie is about John Carter, a Civil War veteran who is trying to lead a normal life.  He is locked up for refusing to join the Army, but he escapes and is pursued.  After a bit of action, he hides in a cave, in which he encounters someone holding a medallion.  When Carter touches the medallion, he is transported to Mars, where the lower gravity enables him to leap incredible heights.  His first encounter with the natives are with the tall, green-skinned, four-armed, horned Thorks.  Soon, he ends up rescuing a princess, Dejah Thoris, of another native group on the planet called the "red" humanoids, and he soon learns of the civil war going on between that group and the other group, the "blue" humanoids.
            The director, Andrew Stanton, has previously directed animated films, such as Finding Nemo and Wall-E, and this is his first live-action movie, which may have contributed to the flaws in the movie.  Like I said, the movie is very flawed.  It's somewhat sloppy, and a bit confusing at times, and not fully coherent (but it's not incoherent).  The progression of the story and the interrelation and connection of everything in it doesn't completely fit, and is not really how it should have been.  A few things actually felt to me like they were almost thrown together.  And in a few ways, it felt almost like a cartoon.  However, the movie does maintain acceptable coherency, etc., and it maintains a level of energy that kept me at least somewhat entertained; surprisingly, I never got bored during this movie.  The movie is a bit confusing at times, and there are a few twists, and I had a bit of trouble keeping track of some names and stuff, but it doesn't really matter, because it's pretty easy to understand the overall plot.  In fact, I actually left the theater at one point to go to the restroom, and I came back three minutes later, but it didn't matter because it was pretty easy for me to pick up on what was basically happening.
            There are some positive things that I can say about the movie.  The visuals are great, and everything in the movie is very well portrayed with the CGI, and in pretty good detail.  The movie introduces a new cultre/world/etc., although it doesn't stand out as a character within itself, like the new world in Avatar did.  But it's still pretty nice.  I also liked the ships; they were very well designed.  In fact, all the special effects were good.  Dejah Thoris is very pretty, and she's a highlight of the movie.  I liked the cast of the movie, especially Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins.  I also somewhat liked the music score.  The story, plot, progression, development, and pacing all needed to be much better.
            Overall, I didn't like the movie or anything, but it was better than I thought it would be.  I found it a bit enjoyable, although I would definitely not recommend it for any awards or special recognition or anything.  If fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this movie is forgotten in the near future.  In my opinion, it's basically a two-and-a-half star movie, but it does hit enough high notes to be a bit enjoyable as a sci-fi blockbuster and to scrape (although barely) a three star rating from me.  Although, it's not a movie that I could really watch over and over again; once was really enough for me.


Cast and Credits:
John Carter: Taylor Kitsch
Dejah Thoris: Lynn Collins
Sola: Samantha Morton
Tars Tarkas: Willem Dafoe
Tal Hajus: Thomas Haden Church
Matai Shang: Mark Strong
Tardos Mors: Ciaran Hinds
Sab Than: Dominic West
Edgar Rice Burroughs: Daryl Sabara

Walt Disney Pictures presents
A film directed by Andrew Stanton
Based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action