John Carter Review.

Thoughts: John Carter is based on the novel A Princess of Mars written by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1917, which influenced many other sci-fi books and movies. It bombed at the box office and was deemed a failure. But the movie was surprisingly good and an overall good time. I really do not know why it did not make much money because a lot of really bad movies have made a ton of money. Although the movie was not particularly great, it was very good with some fun action stunning special effects. The movie takes place on Mars, which we now know does not have life on it. The concept is not the most original one I have seen but that might be due to the fact that the book is almost 100 years old. Although there was not anything really bad about the movie, it is far from flawless. The acting was not especially great and some of the movie is a little corny. The sets and costume design was mostly good but some of the costumes looked cheesy.


Directed by: Andrew Stanton
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action Adventure,
Release Date: March 9, 2012 (2012-03-09)
Running Time: 132 minutes
MMPA rating: PG-13


The Good: Very realistic special effects, Great action scenes,

The Bad: Dull plot,




Plot: The following plot summery is copied from Wikipedia.com.
After the sudden "death" of John Carter, a former American Civil War Confederate Army captain, his nephew Edgar Rice Burroughs (whom Carter called "Ned") attends the funeral. As per Carter's instructions, the body is put in a tomb that can only be unlocked from the inside; his attorney hands over Carter's personal journal for Ned to read, in the hope of finding clues explaining Carter's reason of death.
The film flashes back to the Arizona Territory, where Union Colonel Powell arrests Carter; Powell, knowing about Carter's military background, wants his help in fighting the Apache. However, Carter escapes, with the guards in pursuit. In an ensuing chase both Carter and Powell find themselves in a cave in which Carter had been looking for gold. A Thern appears in the cave at that moment; Carter kills him and, with the help of his medallion, is unknowingly transported to Barsoom (Mars). There, due to his different bone density and planet's low gravity, Carter is able to jump high and perform feats of incredible strength. He is captured by the Green Martian Tharks and their Jeddak (meaning "king") Tars Tarkas. Watch the movie to see what happens next.


Plot: 7.5/10- Interesting idea, although not the best executed. Some of the seemed a little corny but other parts were great. The concept was good though.

Action: 8.3/10- There were some really good battle scenes in the movie and the special effects during those scenes were amazing.


Acting: 7.0/10- While there was not a really bad performance, there were not any particularly great performances either. Except Willem Dafoe as the CGI character Tars Tarkas was great.


Special effects: 9.8/10- Some of the most realistic CGI creatures I have seen and the seer amount of them is staggering. Almost the whole movie has some CGI effect that looked great.

Soundtrack: 7.2/10- Not particularly but gets the job done.

Comedy: 7.9/10- There was a good deal humor, mostly in the first half.

Would I Watch This Again: If I ever happen to stubble upon it again I might consider a re-watch.

Overall: 7.3/10- Overall John Carter is a visually stunning action adventure movie that is almost a homage to classic Sci-Fi adventure movies.


Closing comments: John Carter is a good fun movie and is one of Disney's better movies.


Recommended for: Sci-Fi fans, Action Adventure fans,


Be sure to check back here tomorrow for my review of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The 30th Anniversary of E.T. just passed so I thought it would be a good time to post the review.


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