From the preview that I saw I had already written the review to John Carter in my mind. I had heard the negative hype on the movie and some of the trailers didn’t look engaging. Actually going to ‘see’ the movie was kind of an afterthought and a good excuse to get me out of the house. About ¼ of the way through John Carter I was eating crow, fully engrossed in the film and loving every minute of it.
At first glance it’s easy not to like John Carter because it feels like a mish-mash of every sci-fi movie you’ve seen before. Avatar, Star Wars and even westerns like Outlaw Josey Whales all have a thumb in John Carter’s pie. Steampunk is a difficult genre to do; Kevin Kline’s career still hasn’t recovered from Wild, Wild West.
Step back from John Carter and consider that the source material is 100 years old. Every other sci-fi movie has been inspired by the written words of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I liked John Carter because it’s a clever, inventive movie with great special effects.
John Carter isn’t perfect. The scenes with dialogue are a bit too long and some of the story seems too complex. On the whole, it’s a great surprise and is a fabulous movie for families or fans of sci-fi.
John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is a Civil War vet who is transplanted to Mars through a magical series of events. Once on Mars he’s stronger and faster than usual, meets up with some very tall strange aliens. While with them he sees a conflict happening which involves a race of two human-like creatures.
Guys will like
The action. The alien combat sequences are effective, quick and just violent enough to be PG-13.
Dejah Thoris. That’s the Princess in the movie and she’s played by Lynn Collins. She’s the hottest space Princess since Slave Leia. Dare I say….she’s hotter than Slave Leia because Dejah Thoris is also a warrior who kicks butt with a sword.
Girls will like
John Carter. He wears a loin cloth/toga outfit for most of the movie and is muscular, but not too much so.
Dejah Thoris. She has to marry someone in order to save the planet? Check out her bridesmaids and she is kicking butt with that sword!
Kids will like the entire movie. There may be a couple scenes where the combat may be too real, but I think kids over 8 will be fine. Having said that, I know my nephew, who is 5, would love this movie.
The bottom line
John Carter is better than Avatar. It has more action, without the peachiness or cumbersome message.
John Carter is better than Star Wars: Episode 1. At times the alien characters in John Carter reminded me of Jar Jar Binks. However, just when I’d think about that awful creature the aliens in John Carter would do something funny or unexpected.
It’s funnier than you expect and what’s more the humor is well placed and not forced.
The 3-D in the movie is layered, rich and really impressive. There aren’t any obvious swords being waved into the crowds or cheap 3-D ploys. Is the 3-D mandatory, probably not, save the extra money and watch it in a regular theater if that’s keeping you away from it.
This is a movie that I look forward to seeing again and hope that a sequel is made. Go into the theater with a light mind and John Carter will reward you. It’s a very good sci-fi movie from classic source material; not an artsy movie that pretends to change the world.
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Every time I see the commercials I see “Tim Riggins” from Friday Night Lights. But I might be willing to give the movie a shot.
Check your mind at the door. Once you do that it’s all downhill.
I enjoyed the movie far more than I expected…so much better than the last 3 Star Wars movies and the use of effects actually made sense. The dialogue was occasionally weak, but it was involving!