Review of John Carter (2012) by Chris M — 18 Nov 2013

Underrated modern epic-adventure SciFi/Fantasy romp flick. Well executed, fun ride, light but good. Not as cerebral or dark as Dune, but it manages to transcend the flaws most scifi movies have these days.

If, like me, you like the old 80s/90s classic SciFi/Fantasy and find yourself struggling to enjoy modern SciFi movies, but enjoy shows like Farscape and Firefly and occasional movies like The Avengers you will likely be surprised at how good this movie is, given the low ratings.

I can't believe John Carter is at 51% Fresh on R.T., while Hunger Games is at 84% despite being a big letdown of a turkey (be honest, it was a B movie if not for Jennifer). I read the criticisms, but honestly I think the movie's flaws are few.

My criticisms are that it's not particularly deep, and the skimpy outfit on the female lead was outdatedly mysogenistic, but it's more lively and enjoyable than the junk they usually call SciFi/Fantasy these days.

This movie taught me you can't always trust the Freshness rating on this site, some movies slip between the cracks, and some get too much hype.