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| Who the fuck is John Carter? |
What the hell is a John Carter? Where did he come from? When did he start? I heard this saga is what gave George Lucas his Star Wars. After viewing the trailer I was still a little biased. After doing some research I learned the rich history of the character and was eager to see how Disney does the adaptation. I can tell you that John Carter is worth seeing on the big screen. It's one of those love it or hate it movies. It did neither for me.
STORY
The story begins with John Carter, played by Taylor Kitsch, leaving his will to his nephew. His nephew reads his journal and learns of his great adventures. John Carter is searching for a cave full of gold when Captain Powell sends for him to join the war. He doesn't want to go and tries to escape 3 times before he is finally imprisoned. There he learns that the fourth time is a charm and manages to escape. He runs into some indians that start a minor scuffle with Powell's men. He watches Powell get shot and helps him to safety. Well at least he thought. He finds a cave with weird markings. He enters only to get attacked by a ghostly man dressing like a poor king. He kills it and mistakenly gets taken to Mars. Yes, that Mars!
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| I'm on Mars bitch! |
Once he arrives he is astonished. He can jump really high and far and has super strength. He is taken alive by the leader of the Thrawk. He thinks he is a rare animal that can fight by his side. He doesn't know that there is a civil war going on and that a man by the name of Sab Than, played by Dominic West, is about to monopolize the planet. The only way he will stop if he marries a beautiful princess named Dejah, played by Lynn Collins. She escapes and inadvertently bumps into John Carter. They save each other but finds themselves imprisoned by the Thrawks.
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| O no! |
The leader has a change of heart and sets them free. Dejay wants Carter to help her defend her people but Carter wants to go home. She lies to him about where they're going and he decides to bait the information out of her. This leads to an adventure that you should see. A movie that will live on forever in your heart. OK not really but it is an intense adventure and a good movie to see over the weekend.
ACTING
Blah. It all seemed forced to me. You could tell that most of the characters were acting and not feeling their roles, including Taylor Kitsch. He did have a few funny moments but overall he didn't own the role, at least in my eyes. Lynn Collins was beautiful to look at but that's about it. She also fell to the forceable entry. Mark Strong, William Dafoe, and Thomas Hayden Church made the film watchable. Their performances were the best of the crew and you could tell by their voices that they knew what they were doing. Overall don't see this for its acting.
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| The beautiful bride to be. |
SPECIAL EFFECTS
The effects were great. The 3D wasn't. I liked the action scenes but I felt that it could have been more of a spectacle. The CGI itself wasn't a complete let down but I wouldn't compare it to Transformers or Avatar. The 3D adds nothing to the action and was a disappointment. Watch it in 2D and save some money.
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| Sweet! |
WRITING AND DIRECTING
This movie was written by too many writers that I care not to mention and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story flowed nicely and he was able to keep the different story lines from becoming too confusing. The dialog was good but it was the actors that failed at the delivery. The directing was better than I thought. Andrew was able to capture the heart of John Carter without sacrificing quality. Overall this department did well.
THE END
It's a decent movie to see in the theaters. Just skip the 3D. It's a waste of time. Despite the acting the movie is still enjoyable. If you like adventure films then this is for you. The ending just made me smile.
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| Can you see me smiling? |
OVERALL
STORY 7 out of 10
ACTING 5 out of 10
SPECIAL EFFECTS 7 out of 10
WRITING 7 out of 10
DIRECTING 7 out of 10
OVERALL 6 out of 10 (Not a bad film overall)
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