I'm the first to admit that I'm easily pleased by ANY attempt to bring my beloved fantasy characters to the big screen. I read all the John Carter books in Jr. High School, and besides some straight-to-video features produced in the late 80's and early 90's (we all know what I'm talking about here), there are very few comic book movies that I can't find SOMETHING to applaud. That unconditional love is the reason why I have made my living from a comic book movie website. But having fully disclosed my prejudices, I tell you without bias that John Carter has a fair chance at becoming a franchise. It's first outing is
THAT good.
Sure, I could nitpick some minor things, as we all could do with practically ANY movie. The film isn't perfect, but perfection is a rare thing. Last I heard, only Jesus Christ had attained it. What it does right is bring the passion that director Andrew Stanton has for the Edgar Rice Burroughs books to the screen, and that enthusiasm easily translates through the actors to the viewing audience. The best way I can describe it is that I got the same feeling watching this as I did when I saw the first Star Wars as a youth.
JOHN CARTER dumps you into a new universe without much set up, but quickly gets you interested in learning more about this strange new land and the interesting characters that people it. It immediately draws you into the adventure. It's a movie of discovery.
You can see that the actors caught that spirit. Taylor Kitsch does a worthy job of portraying the hero. My only nitpicky criticism about him is that there are a couple times that his southern accent breaks into a John Wayne impression, and other times he sounds like Rorschach from Watchmen.
Lynn Collins won me over as Carter's squeeze Dejah Thoris, the Martian Princess of Helium. And again, the only minor criticism that stuck out for me was why she (and all the other red Martians) had British accents. Odd, but not a deal breaker for me.
The CGI, which has to also be considered a "main character" in this movie was flawless--on equal par with Avatar. The CGI characters were believably "acting" in the movie. Gone are the days where the REAL actors are obviously staring off into dead space when interacting with a CGI character. There were no visibly "odd" scenes with the Tharks (green Martians) who have a large role and plenty of screen time.
How Carter becomes involved in political affairs of both the red and green Martians is engaging, the action is exciting, and while not all the potential storylines are wrapped up, there are plenty of hints about what is to come, and flashbacks about what has occurred to our hero that will undoubtably be answered in future sequels. Those may be a tad confusing for the unbaptized, but to me, the tease is part of the enjoyment, and not EVERYTHING has to be answered in the first movie. After all, we didn't know everything about Luke Skywalker, Jedis and the Empire when we were happily thrust into the Star Wars universe, did we? And yet we were eager to take the journey. Same thing here.
And this movie has something for everybody. You've heard this before, but it crosses multiple genres: SciFi, Fantasy, Comics, Action, Western, Romance, Period piece, and hits a home run with every one.
Here's the money quote...
“Traverse space, time and several genres with JOHN CARTER! For over 100 years his adventures on Mars have influenced the greatest Science Fiction movies ever made, yet strangely, this action-adventure-romance has gone unknown to the vast majority—UNTIL NOW. Finally, Disney and director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) have brought the epic fantasy out of obscurity and onto the big screen with passion and style, enabling millions of NEW fans to discover and embrace it for what it is … the great-granddaddy of classic tales.”
--Jim Littler of ComicBookMovie.com
If you missed any of ComicBookMovie.com's EXCLUSIVE interviews, just follow the below links...
- Director Andrew Stanton Part 1 - CLICK HERE.
- Director Andrew Stanton Part 2 - CLICK HERE
- Taylor Kitsch - Playing The Hero - CLICK HERE
- Lynn Collins - Warrior Princess - CLICK HERE.
- Dominic West - The Bad Guy - CLICK HERE.
- Willem Dafoe - Thark Chieftain Tars Tarkas - On Motion Capture Acting.
- And Read the "Official" CBM review of the movie HERE.
From Academy Award®--winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes "John Carter"—a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). "John Carter" is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.
Starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins and Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, James Purefoy, Dominic West, Thomas Haden Church and Ciarán Hinds. John Carter is set to hit theatres on March 9!