Andrew Stanton, 2012
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong
Originally written for EveryMovieTrailer.com.
Ex-Confederate officer John Carter is searching for gold in the Arizona Territory when he is mysteriously transported to Barsoom, also known as Mars. Because of the lower gravity there, Carter is able to jump higher and hit harder, something that endears him to Tars Tarkas, leader of the Tharks, who are tall, green-skinned and four-armed. The Tharks capture him and he is inadvertently involved in a battle between the warring citizens of Helium and Zodanga. These “red” people look strangely like humans and Carter finds himself intervening on behalf of the beautiful Helium princess, Dejah Thoris. She is being forced to marry the cruel Zodanga leader, Sab Than, who claims to want peace.
Sab Than has a special weapon given to him by Therns, an immortal, humanoid race that shapes and controls the destiny of the planet. They are ready for Barsoom to fall and the marriage is a hoax. When Carter helps Dejah she promises to show him a way home with the assistance of Tars Tarkas’s banished daughter Sola. This is also a ruse, as Dejah really wants Carter’s help saving her planet. Almost accidentally they find information about the medallion that brought Carter to Barsoom and Sab Than’s strange weapon, before they are ambushed by the Therns. Dejah begrudgingly agrees to marry Sab Than, but Carter learns about the Therns and their destructive purpose. He realizes that only he can save Dejah and Barsoom and seeks the Tharks to help him win the day.
Andrew Standon (FINDING NEMO, WALL-E) makes his first live-action debut with JOHN CARTOR, an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s novel A Princess of Mars (1917), the first in his long Barsoom series. Stanton wrote the screenplay with Pixar’s Mark Andrews and celebrated novelist Michael Chabon. 2012 marks the centennial of John Carter’s first appearance, making it an appropriate time for a film adaptation, but it unfortunately comes out of the gate with a number of obstacles. First and foremost is that non-genre fans are likely to see JOHN CARTER as derivative of STAR WARS, PLANET OF THE APES, AVATAR and other beloved fantasy epics. What they fail to realize is that Burroughs inspired and influenced most of these later films.
The enormous $250 million budget feels disproportionate, though the visuals are undoubtedly the strongest point of JOHN CARTER. Taking a leave from Frank Frazetta’s beloved illustrations, the film feels like a mash up of David Lynch’s DUNE, any number of ‘50s Harryhausen fantasy epics and a Roman Empire themed tale. The CGI is effortlessly blended into the live action sequences, helping along the fact that this epic origin story is likely the first of several films. At its best, JOHN CARTER is pulpy, fun and full of adventure. There are moments where it is campy and overly serious, but humor is liberally sprinkled throughout, for example in the long running joke that the Tharks think Carter’s name is Virginia.
The acting is a mixed bag and is the source of much critical malign. Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE) looks good as John Carter, but falls somewhat flat when he is not in the middle of action. Lynn Collins (True Blood, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE) really shines in this film with a captivating, charming breakout performance. She is tough, beautiful and an equal for Carter in every way, despite their unfortunate lack of chemistry. There is a great side role as the head Thern from the flawless Mark Strong. Ciarán Hinds and James Purefoy also put in nice, brief performances and seem to be reprising their roles from Rome. Unsurprisingly, the best performances are from the motion-capture/ CGI characters, particularly Willem Dafore’s Tars Tarkas, who brings warmth and humor to the screen.
JOHN CARTER also has some difficult moments, namely when it repeatedly stumbles trying to explain and re-explain the backstory. Because of this, the pacing of the film is off and it is too long, clocking in at over two hours. The meandering, confused plot takes precedence over character development and frequently feels like it should have been given room to breath within a mini-series rather than shoe-horned into a feature film. The plot ultimately falls flat, because there is never a feeling of real danger for any of the protagonists and, as a result, we are never that invested in the story.
Though JOHN CARTER is not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, it is a fun action-fantasy epic that genres fans will love. The bad reviews feel unfair and vindictive. Though the budget was high and elements from Burroughs’s fiction have been used in beloved past films, JOHN CARTER is still a worthwhile endeavor, particularly for fans of fantasy and sci-fi.
Ex-Confederate officer John Carter is searching for gold in the Arizona Territory when he is mysteriously transported to Barsoom, also known as Mars. Because of the lower gravity there, Carter is able to jump higher and hit harder, something that endears him to Tars Tarkas, leader of the Tharks, who are tall, green-skinned and four-armed. The Tharks capture him and he is inadvertently involved in a battle between the warring citizens of Helium and Zodanga. These “red” people look strangely like humans and Carter finds himself intervening on behalf of the beautiful Helium princess, Dejah Thoris. She is being forced to marry the cruel Zodanga leader, Sab Than, who claims to want peace.
Sab Than has a special weapon given to him by Therns, an immortal, humanoid race that shapes and controls the destiny of the planet. They are ready for Barsoom to fall and the marriage is a hoax. When Carter helps Dejah she promises to show him a way home with the assistance of Tars Tarkas’s banished daughter Sola. This is also a ruse, as Dejah really wants Carter’s help saving her planet. Almost accidentally they find information about the medallion that brought Carter to Barsoom and Sab Than’s strange weapon, before they are ambushed by the Therns. Dejah begrudgingly agrees to marry Sab Than, but Carter learns about the Therns and their destructive purpose. He realizes that only he can save Dejah and Barsoom and seeks the Tharks to help him win the day.
Andrew Standon (FINDING NEMO, WALL-E) makes his first live-action debut with JOHN CARTOR, an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s novel A Princess of Mars (1917), the first in his long Barsoom series. Stanton wrote the screenplay with Pixar’s Mark Andrews and celebrated novelist Michael Chabon. 2012 marks the centennial of John Carter’s first appearance, making it an appropriate time for a film adaptation, but it unfortunately comes out of the gate with a number of obstacles. First and foremost is that non-genre fans are likely to see JOHN CARTER as derivative of STAR WARS, PLANET OF THE APES, AVATAR and other beloved fantasy epics. What they fail to realize is that Burroughs inspired and influenced most of these later films.
The enormous $250 million budget feels disproportionate, though the visuals are undoubtedly the strongest point of JOHN CARTER. Taking a leave from Frank Frazetta’s beloved illustrations, the film feels like a mash up of David Lynch’s DUNE, any number of ‘50s Harryhausen fantasy epics and a Roman Empire themed tale. The CGI is effortlessly blended into the live action sequences, helping along the fact that this epic origin story is likely the first of several films. At its best, JOHN CARTER is pulpy, fun and full of adventure. There are moments where it is campy and overly serious, but humor is liberally sprinkled throughout, for example in the long running joke that the Tharks think Carter’s name is Virginia.
The acting is a mixed bag and is the source of much critical malign. Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE) looks good as John Carter, but falls somewhat flat when he is not in the middle of action. Lynn Collins (True Blood, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE) really shines in this film with a captivating, charming breakout performance. She is tough, beautiful and an equal for Carter in every way, despite their unfortunate lack of chemistry. There is a great side role as the head Thern from the flawless Mark Strong. Ciarán Hinds and James Purefoy also put in nice, brief performances and seem to be reprising their roles from Rome. Unsurprisingly, the best performances are from the motion-capture/ CGI characters, particularly Willem Dafore’s Tars Tarkas, who brings warmth and humor to the screen.
JOHN CARTER also has some difficult moments, namely when it repeatedly stumbles trying to explain and re-explain the backstory. Because of this, the pacing of the film is off and it is too long, clocking in at over two hours. The meandering, confused plot takes precedence over character development and frequently feels like it should have been given room to breath within a mini-series rather than shoe-horned into a feature film. The plot ultimately falls flat, because there is never a feeling of real danger for any of the protagonists and, as a result, we are never that invested in the story.
Though JOHN CARTER is not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, it is a fun action-fantasy epic that genres fans will love. The bad reviews feel unfair and vindictive. Though the budget was high and elements from Burroughs’s fiction have been used in beloved past films, JOHN CARTER is still a worthwhile endeavor, particularly for fans of fantasy and sci-fi.
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