Despite Disney's best efforts to destroy it, John Carter turns out to be one heck of a movie. Whatever movie that Disney was trying to sell you, with the rock rifts, the Attack of the Clone scenes, the weird ships, the lack of story, they succeeded in hiding the better film that lay underneath. And I think that it's going to cost them. Dearly.
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| John Carter goes for a walk! |
Now, let me address the name change for a moment. This movie is called John Carter. Simple. And boring. What does the name John Carter tell me? It's about a man named John Carter. And what is he going to do? Be John Carter, right? But what makes John Carter so important? He's John Carter. Honestly, this was another great example of Disney trying to hide the most important element that is the focus of this movie, which is John Carter, goes to Mars. You see, John Carter is from earth, but goes to Mars, where he has his adventure. So, if I were thinking straight, I would have called it something like, John Carter of Mars, to help with the marketing. Instead we get John Carter. Why not just called it John? Or J. Carter? Or J, for that matter? This movie would have been so much easier to find an audience with the words Of Mars, attached. John Carter, tells me nothing but John Carter of Mars tell me tons. However, Disney not calling it A Princess of Mars, was smart. When you think of Disney and Princesses, this movie would have been a sever disappointment to brainwashed girls across the board. I am not sure why some reviewers haven't made this connection yet, but they need to shut their mouths and stop whining. Not to mention since this movie is about John Carter (as the name clearly states) viewers would have expected more from the Princess than we are given. If I say anything good about Disney and their marketing here, I say good call on not putting Princess in the title.
So, how is the movie? It's not bad. It's a bit too long, by about 25 minutes or so, and some of the CGI work needed one more pass, and the fact that it tries to play with time a little too freely, do seem to hinder it a bit. However, this movie is filled with good characters, a pretty good story, and when the visuals are on, they are on!
Taylor Kitsch plays John Carter with a great bit of enthusiasm. After all, he's an unwilling hero stuck in a place that he doesn't know or want to be in. On Earth he is a loner, chased by the ghosts of his past, made fun of for who he has become, and trying to do what right to him, and no one else. He is a fighter, not willing to take orders, and not able to listen to reason. In short, he's a mess. When he is transported to Mars, he is now lost and longing to return to the world that he left. Instead, he finds himself in the midst of a type of Civil War between two empires, one losing to the other, and a third race that wants to stay neutral and alive. When John gets to Mars, he is captured by the Tharks, four armed green creatures, who immediately imprison and abuse him. However, one thing that John Carter can do here, that he cannot on Earth, is jump super high. It's like a Hulk jump, going on forever. This power becomes important in saving Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins, who does an excellent job), a Princess of one of the warring races, who is running away from a forced marriage. Once he does this, he must now decide whether to give up the attempt to head home, or to save the beings on Mars.
That is the simplest way to boil down the plot of John Carter. There is still so much more there that I can't even begin to go into here. All in all, the plot is engaging and filled with tons of characters all running around doing their part to move the plot forward. There is so much going on here that it, at times, feel very overwhelming. It is actually difficult to understand who is who because there are so many new names of people, places, and things. This movie will actually warrant a second viewing to figure out all the names. This is expected, though, as we are not only setting up a new world, but new races and places within that world. Everything is immense.
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| Not a Jedi in sight |
All in all, this is a good movie. Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) takes his first live action movie and does some great things with it. However, at times, you will swear that you have seen this movie before, again and again. This is the failing of making a movie of a property that inspired so many stories before this movie version came out. John Carter has been a huge influential series, and it shows. I know that one of the commercials makes this movie look like it stole a scene from Attack of the Clones, with a giant monster attacking our hero in an arena setting. However, unlike AOTC, this scene is quick, not filled with crappy dialogue, and is actually good.
Like I mentioned, the movie is a bit too long for its own good. There are too many characters running around, and way too many names to try and keep tabs on. However, the cast is committed and the story is well done enough to keep one enthralled.
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| I'm just going to leave this here. |
---MGS
BTW, the creature named Woola, a dog like companion, steals the movie! Awesome! Let's get a toy of that thing!
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| I want one! In plushy form. So I wouldn't have to pick up after it. |
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