Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Epic story that will hold your interest
Cons: Characters could
be stronger, but I still got into the story
The Bottom Line:
An epic story
Entertains the whole way through
Want to watch again
I wasn't that intent to see John Carter until I started
hearing word of mouth from those who had seen it. They convinced me that I should give it a
shot. I'm glad they did or I would have
missed a great film.
The story is told in a flashback as John Carter's nephew,
Edgar Rice Burroughs (Daryl Sabara in a very small role) reads a diary that his
uncle had just left behind.
John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is a Confederate Civil War vet
trying to live by himself in theArizonaterritory after the end of the war. He's had a personal tragedy that has driven
him to isolation, and he spend his days hunting for a rumored cave of gold.
One day, he finds himself hiding from a band of Native
Americans, and he stumbles upon that cave.
But before he can do everything, a robed figure appears, and John kills
him in self defense. Before the other
man dies, he utters a strange phrase.
The next thing John knows, he's in the middle of
nowhere. When he tries to walk, he finds
himself leaping incredibly high. As he
explores this new terriroty, he finds himself captures by aliens and in the
middle of a feud between two warring human races for the fate of the
planet? And the planet he's on? Mars.
The movie is based on books by the real life author Edgar
Rice Burroughs penned around 100 years ago.
In many ways, the story defies genre.
Yes, it's science fiction since it mostly takes place on Mars and
involves an alien species. But it's also
action adventure. And the epic
part? Well, the movie clocks in at over
two hours, but it felt like they had so much more to it. I kept thinking it had to end soon, but it
just kept going.
Now, before you think I was anxious for the movie to be
over, let me set you straight. While the
story was a bit slow at the beginning, especially with several different
opening bits before the story really got going, I was enthralled the entire
time. As the story progressed, the
stakes were raised and John actually came to care for the inhabitants of this
strange world where he found himself.
I would say the movie's only failing is that I didn't care
quite as much about the characters as John came to. There was always something keeping me from
truly engaging with them.
However, when we got to the end of the movie, I found I did
care. I wanted our heroes to have a
happy ending. I will only give this away
about the ending, it is brilliant in that it took a bunch of seemingly random
things and made them all bit together perfectly.
The movie is filled with special effects. Most of the alien species are computer
animated, and there is an alien dog that is computer animated as well. You'd never know it. Meanwhile, we've got some fun flying ships
and other effects. I bought every minute
of it.
The acting was good as well.
The only cast I was familiar with (Willem Dafoe and Thomas Haden Church)
voiced some of the aliens. But just
because they were unknowns doesn't mean they weren't great. Taylor Kitsch as John Carter is in just about
every scene, and he's great. Lynn
Collins is captivating as the female lead who is a very strong character in her
own right.
There will be comparisons between this and some of the
better epics of our own day. The friend
I saw it with immediately noted similarities between this and Star Wars, for
example. Personally, I felt recognized a
few conventions as well, especially with some superhero stories. So it becomes an issue of who ripped off
whom. Personally, I got so caught up in
events that I didn't care what I had and hadn't seen before. I came together in a way that felt original
to me.
I chose to see the movie in 2D, so I can't speak to the 3D
effects. I can say I didn't feel like I
was missing anything watching it in 2D.
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