Review of John Carter (2012) by James W — 31 Oct 2013

Although it's not as magical as most Walt Disney Pictures features, John Carter is still a captivating adventure with a stunning world at the centre of it's plot and it's filled to the brim with incredible special effects.

John Carter is a former Military Captain who is mysteriously transported to Barsoom, which is Mars, where he is thrust into a battle between it's four armed inhabitants and a nemesis that has the power to take over the planet and overthrow the people.

Admittedly the story is a bit all over the place, but amongst the convoluted plot elements there is one shining light and that is the wonderful and convincing performance from Lynn Collins who plays Dejah Thoris, a Princess who is forced to marry Sab Than, the enemy, in order to save her people.

Collins is gorgeous, one hell of a fighter and each line is delivered with force and she alone elevates the movie and keeps the pace going even in the slower moments. Taylor Kitsch is a decent lead, but most the time he grunts dialogue and jumps around a lot, it's fair to say the supporting cast fair better and Kitsch has seen better performances.

Visually it's a whopper of a movie, Barsoom is a vivid planet and the ships that commence battle in the skies are some of the best moments. Some have criticised the short lived action sequences, which is fair cause they are but for me it wasn't a problem as all the dialogue driven scenes and character interactions are interesting enough.

John Carter is good fun, worth watching in 3D and works well thanks to an excellent cast and the incredible Lynn Collins.