Hey gang, thanks for reading. Now that the weekends over, and all the numbers are tallied, I wanted to give an honest but brief opinion of my John Carter movie experience. For the first Big Blockbuster of the year John Carter is a good movie, and deserves a solid B or 3 1/2 out of 5. The story structure was done well by providing heartfelt, and emotional lead characters. However, it does fall short in a few areas.
My main complaint comes from the movie's beginning. It starts off with a forgettable explanation of how the War on Barsoom aka Mars started, and adds unimpressive CGI for the war machines which made it more distracting. We also don't get any help from Dominic West as Prince Sab Than. He gives a flat performance that truly gives this opening sequence a made for TV sci-fi movie feel, instead of the big blockbuster as advertised. It's not until we have moved forward into the story of John Carter that most of this becomes forgivable.
The Story has a very simple plot that even the children in the audience could understand. A gold digging, American soldier, incidentally becomes an interplanetary adventurer. He becomes friends with some inhabitants of Barsoom called Tharks who are fascinated by the way he jumps, and calling him Virginia. John Carter's adventure on Mars suddenly takes new heights when he saves a Princess from falling and volunteers to prevent further war if it gets him home. What makes the plot more interesting is that all the while John's Nephew is reading his notes, and we are going on the journey with him.
When it comes to the characters, Taylor Kitch (John Carter) does an excellent job. The audience including myself enjoyed his performance from beginning to end. William Dafoe brings Tars Tarkasto life like no other. Lynn Collins was such a delight to on screen as she gave an honest heartfelt portrayal The Princess Dejah Thoris. The only problem with Collins was that sometimes she comes off as flat, but I blame this on drawn out dialogue that could have been much shorter. Dominic West was flat and unimpressive. Mark Strong was Mark Strong. Cirian Hinds was nothing too spectacular. What surprised the audience and myself was Woola the Barsoomian dog like creature. Not only was he super fast, but even more lovable.
Overall the experience of John Carter was pleasant and I was especially glad that I went to see it in 2D rather than 3D since there was enough elements to bring the gimmick to life. It's also not hard to tell that John Carter has inspired many of today's sci fi adventures. Avatar clearly took notes. In the end is it a its definitely a movie that is worth seeeing.
Hope you guys enjoyed. StrangerX out