John Carter: Review

Disney's John Carter opened in theaters nationwide this past weekend. Marketed as the first blockbuster of the year, I had high hopes for this movie. However despite its budget, this film doesn't do quite enough to earn that title.

Breakdown:

Director:
Andrew Stanton

Stars:
Taylor Kitsch (John Carter)
Lynn Collins (Dejah Thoris)
Mark Strong (Matai Shang)
Samantha Morton (Sola)
Willem Dafoe (Tars Tarkas)
Dominic West (Sab Than)
Ciaran Hinds (Tardos Mors)

About the film:
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Rated: PG 13
Run-time: 132 Mins
Released: 3/9/12




Plot:

This movie is based on an 11 volume novel series written by Edgar Rice Burroughs beginning in 1912 . The film tells the tale of John Carter, a accomplished Civil War captain. While on the run from Union soldiers he ends up getting transported to Mars. Not long after his arrival, John is captured by the Thark, a 12 foot tall race of green aliens led by Tar Tarkas. John also learns that Mars is at war and soon takes up arms to try to save the planet from Sab Than.

The film suffers from some pacing issues. It seemed like it took him an eternity to get to Mars. Once there the story moved much faster, but there were still long lulls in between action scenes. Much like the start of the film, the final scenes move at a lethargic pace. This resulted in the plot to becoming difficult to follow and the movie to feel fragmented.

Visual & Sound:


John Carter looks good but isn't stunning. Some of the scenery has a unique visual style that's nice, but some things just look out of place. For instance Sab Than's ultimate weapon almost looks like a blue fishnet glove. Also most of Mars is barren, so there isn't a whole lot to look at. Furthermore, there is no reason to see this film in 3D. There were only a few scenes that made effective use of it. Save your money if you plan on seeing this movie. The sound much like the visuals is good, but not great. The movies action scenes are filmed with classic adventure style music that helps the fights seem much more epic. Other than that nothing really stands out.

Performances:

Taylor Kitsch does an ok job as John Carter. He performed well enough in the movies action sequences, however when he wasn't punching or hitting something, his performance suffers. I felt no real connection between him and Dejah, John Carter's love interest.

For the most part William Dafoe does a good job as Tar Tarkas, the leader of the Thark. Tarkas seemed to have a soft spot for Carter, but doesn't hesitate to try to use him to accomplish his own goals. Dafoe's performance gets a few laughs in spots throughout the movie, but its nothing that left a lasting impression on me.

Lynn Collins as Dejah Thris, yay eye-candy!!!

Lynn Collins plays the lovely & dangerous Dejah Thoris. She is a princess of Mars that will do whatever it takes to save her people. I found her to very beliveable in this role, but much like Kitch her performance is not as good away from the action. When engaging with the other characters, she serves as little more that eye-candy for guys like me.

Dominic West is the evil and power hungry Sab Than. His goal is to rule over all of Mars. I never really bought him as a cunning and fearful leader, he just doesn't come off as intimidating.

One of the better performances of the film was that of Mark Strong. His admirable performance as Matai Shang the cold and calculating king of Therns made some of the scenes more tolerable. Strong line delivery was spot-on, especially when interacting with John Carter and Sab Than.

Overall the performances in this movie are ok, but no one is going to win an award here. I think the performances would have been better if the movie had better pacing. Some of the scenes felt rushed and this impacted character development.

Rating:


Overall John Carter feels like a mix of Avatar and Prince of Persia, except it's not as good as either. John Carter is no Jake Sully and the Thark aren't the Navi. Not enough was done with the Thark to make me care about them. Due to the way the story is presented some people will leave this movie confused. Furthermore, some of the lackluster performances will leave you feeling like something is missing. Some will enjoy the action sequences as they are well done. The movie isn't terrible, but is not epic like Disney wants it to be. I give John Carter 2.5 stars out of 5.