Sunday 18 March 2012

John Carter



I would be lying if I said I was excited for John Carter.  The trailer was as unoriginal as it was uninspiring and the source material was completely unfamiliar.  The cinema releases are still on their post Christmas/pre summer lull and John Carter has taken advantage of this and made an early dash for Box Office glory.

PLOT:  John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is a young civil war veteran who is has left the battlefield behind and is searching for a mysterious cave of gold.  After hiding in a cave from a fast approaching enemy Carter finds himself transported to Mars and into the middle of a long running war between two cities.  John Carter must figure out how to save Princess Dejah (Lynn Collins) whilst figuring out how to return to earth and his elusive cave of gold.  END PLOT

I have no idea how the plot of John Carter compares to Edgar Rice Burroughs' original novel but as an introduction to the series I thought the film faired quite well.  John Carter started off slow and kept a steady pace with the total running time clocking in at just over two hours.   I liked that the film did not attempt to whittle itself down to 90mins as this would have felt too rushed.

The script contained some clunky lines which were unfortunately emphasised by an at times wooden Kitsch and the drama school performance of Collins.  Despite a few cringe worthy moments (the “look I am getting away!” line taking the top honour) Kitsch just about had the charm to lead the film.

The rest of the human supporting cast is made up of Mark Strong (when is it not!), Dominic West and James Purefoy who looked to be enjoying himself immensely.  Bryan Cranson also pops up in a little cameo.

Alongside the humans we are introduced to the entirely CGI race of the Tharks.  The Tharks looked impressive and the film lagged when they were not on screen.  They were much more interesting than the warring humans and if there is a sequel I hope they are heavily involved.

The film looked amazing.  The director of Wall:E and Finding Nemo, Andrew Stanton, has done a great job of blending CGI creatures, dusty Mars horizons and futuristic weapons together – the effects in John Carter really cannot be faulted.

I saw the John Carter in 3D as I didn’t have the option of seeing it in 2D.  As a general rule I am not a fan of fad and although the 3D wasn't bad it was by no means great.  If you have the choice – go with 2D.

If I am being honest I expected that my only enjoyment of this film would be to make fun of it.  I was expecting John Carter to top the “so bad it is good” category but in the end I legitimately loved it. 

Yes there are problems, perhaps it is too long and if you drink a shot each time John Carter gets captured you will have severe liver problems but something about the film sucked me in.  I have now seen John Carter twice in the cinema and it transpires that it does hold up on a second viewing which again I wasn’t expecting. It gets a surprising and strong 8/10.

I feel like I have liked a film that the popular kids will say is uncool.  I don’t care. 

13 comments:

  1. I'm glad you enjoyed it - with 82,000 Tarzan movies out there I think it's terrific that Edgar Rice Burroughs is finally getting some big time cinematic love in 2012! Did you know there was a low budget version of this a couple of years ago called Princess of Mars?

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    1. I really enjoyed it and it held up very well on a second viewing!

      I looked Princess of Mars on IMDB and it is the kinda of film that I will catch on the Syfy channel some lazy Sunday afternoon.

      Thanks for reading!
      K :-)

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  2. Great reveiw, but doesn't sound like I'm going to watching this movie anytime soon.

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    1. Thanks for reading. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed John Carter so maybe it will be the same for you?

      K :-)

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  3. It's been ages since I read the book. I'm certainly hoping it holds up to my expectations. I'm already thinking I'll like it when I see it.

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    1. I am toying with the idea of reading the book just to compare the two - and this isn't like me at all!

      I hope it meets your expectations!

      K :-)

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  4. Really sounds like something worthwhile, I've tried and tried to drum up interest to see this but couldn't do it, will pick it up on when comes out on video.

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    1. I think the best thing they did with John Carter is to release it now as it would have most definitely got lost in the summer blockbusters.

      It is worth a look on video though and I know I will most likely buy it on dvd when it comes out

      PS - Taylor Kitsch is very attractive - just in case this will change your mind!!

      Thanks for reading as always!

      K ;-)

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  5. I tend to walk away from drawn out movies. Eh, I guess some movies I will never get around to watching. Good review.

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    1. Thank you!

      John Carter is long but as I enjoyed it I didn't feel the length

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  7. Great review, still haven't decided whether or not to see it.

    It appears that in it's "...early dash for Box Office glory.", it stumbled coming off the starting blocks and sprawled on it's face. Heard yesterday that Disney have already taken a write down on it.

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    1. Thanks Don

      I read that it is on course to be one of the biggest flops on record which I think is very harsh.

      It isn't the best film in the world but I still really enjoyed it. The flaws are there but I was able to look past them

      thanks for reading!

      K :-)

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