Review of John Carter (2012) by Haydn E — 19 Dec 2013

John Carter is a better movie than the fate it received, but not by much. I think a big reason for this is in spite of the overblown budget & unwieldy plot the movie is honest. It honestly strives to be a decent story with interesting characters and good a old fashion adventure mixed with ample amounts of action, drama & comedy. The movie feels sincere, it's fun in many scenes, but it's just a mess overall. Like a hot stew instead of a gourmet meal. And with that kind of budget, we shouldn't just get a stew.

I think one of the problems with John Carter is the era in which it was released. This new century has seen an explosion of great super hero and fantasy movies - films which pushed the boundaries of imagination, special effects and authenticity. And in this saturated genre, John Carter falls somewhere in the middle in terms of everything. On Mars, he's like a super hero, but his power consists mainly of jumping high and some increased strength. After what we've seen already in films like Spider-Man, Iron Man and Avatar, somebody who simply jumps high (and seemingly in only one direction) a lot is not reaching new heights. It's just not as interesting a super power as the movie wants us, the audience, to think it is. We see, like once, where Carter is super strong compared to the people of Mars, but it's never really explored.

Carter is at his most interesting when he's knee-deep in a fight. He's a warrior & a survivor who comes alive in the heat of battle, like Maximus or Conan or Beowulf. But while the fight scenes are pretty good, the film doesn't treat them with much detail or go into why or how Carter fights so passionately.

Despite its faults, John Carter makes for a decent distraction. None of it is egregiously bad, it's just the movie is also not great, so it can get dull about half way through.