John Carter: An Honest Review

"John Carter", formerly "John Carter of Mars" is an entertaining if not generic Disney Movie.

First let me say, I am not familiar with the source material, and I tried to avoid all trailers except the few the creeped in to my TV viewing. So, I like the think that I went into this pretty fresh without expectations. I will say however, that once I saw the trailers and heard about the budget, I felt like it would probably not be as good as the "hype" and what the fan boys will want it to be. I think the result is somewhere in the middle.

First the basics. About a man who miraculously finds himself on Mars. He becomes entangled in the goings on of the planet, and who ultimately finds his place in the world.

More detail (possible spoilers - skip to next paragraph if you don't want to know more than the basics)

Carter, an ex-military man who has become rich, dies and his nephew Edgar Rice Burroughs is left with all of his belongings and a journal. The Journal tells the story of how JC found himself on Mars, and details the account of interacting with the natives, falling in love, and battling a war. He tells of these beings that seem to transcend time and space who try to manipulate the course of a planets "existence" and destruction. - to what ends and why...not really sure, but lives his life trying to find a way back.

NO MORE SPOILERS.

I liked John Carter. I wasn't sure if I would at first. Taylor Kitsch felt wrong, but ultimately was right on for the character that was created. The movie moved at a pretty good pace. There is a little lull that seems to drag a bit but overall the pace was fast, and didn't feel at all like the 2 plus hour run time.

There has been a lot of talk about the lead actress and the possibility of her playing Wonder Woman. First I want to say that any attractive actress that has Black hair (natural or dyed - dyed in her case) and who is asked to do some sort of action scene, will inevitably be fan considered to be Wonder Woman. I personally only saw glimpses of possibility...she seemed too "soft" to me. As far as this movie is concerned, she was just right. What I didn't like about any of the "human" characters (the Red Skins) was the caked on make up.

The "alien" or Martians as I'll call them are green with 4 arms, tusks and stand about 8-9 feet tall. They are the indigenous species I suppose.

The CGI was GREAT although I wish studios would spend more time on skin texture. CGI looks CGI no matter how good they look. I think texture and better color modeling will help with this in the future.

The story is a BIG story arc that could have been REALLY bad if not handled properly. However, I felt that the transitions were made fairly well and the story kept together. Time focusing on one aspect of JC's adventures may be in sequals pehaps...but for a one time shot the bigger the better and they did ok.

As I was driving home I felt this nag of ...there is something I didn't like about the movie...it wasn't GREAT it was just good and entertaining.
Well what that is...is that it's a Disney Movie. BOTTOM LINE!!! This looks, feels, sounds, and plays like a Disney film. The generic story lines, to the marketable "aliens", to the tries for humor, with jokes and a lovable alien "dog"; There is a reason this is a PG-13 rated film as there is some "blue" bloodshed, and some sword play that doesn't end well.
Frankly the PG-13 rating boils down to 2 scenes that could have been edited differently, and gotten a PG. In the same scene however, there is an ode to "Braveheart".

One other issue I had with the film is JC is stronger, faster, and can jump really far. This is played up brilliantly when he first gets to MARS but eventually is bogged down...it was like is he strong or not, is he fast or not...sometimes yes, sometimes no. Consistency and acknowledgement by others would have been great.

Will Fan boys be disappointed? Probably, (see the other reviews) will families be able to go and enjoy a film together...YES. It's not a bad film...just know that when you see Disney...that's what you get. Also...leave your brain at the door.