Review of John Carter (2012) by Donnyt — 27 May 2012

This was the best film I've seen this year! I never read the books but, for a movie, it was well done. What especially drove the movie for me was Deja Thoris played by Lynn Collins. It's hard to find movies where actors make you feel like they're really there, in a fantasy setting, but Lynn Collins performance was fantastic. After all is said and done, if the actors don't make you care about what is happening in their given situation, but also do it in a way that is believable, the movie simply doesn't work. IMO this is Lynn Collins film to stardom. John Carter, played by Taylor Kitsch performance was mediocre. I figure they probably cast him for his looks more than anything. Dialogue wasn't the greatest but it was good. Visual effects; fantastic. Story was surprisingly decent. I like how the director, Andrew Stanton, did not make the story feel rushed by adding small details like John Carter repeatedly trying to escape, which also served to build character revelation. I also like how, even though this was a science fiction movie with wild aliens and bizarre settings, it's a love story at heart, which anyone can relate to.

Soundtrack; I thought it was kind of repetitive, like they were trying to make a memorable tune, but it was good.

So, compared to other big hits like The Avengers, which was good but relied primarily on visual effects, this film is the best I've seen so far this year.