Review of John Carter (2012) by Richard D — 04 Mar 2014

One of my favorite movies in nearly 50 years of film-watching. Since first catching John Carter on Starz a few months ago, and then buying the Blu-ray, I have watched this movie at least a half dozen times, growing more captivated by it with each viewing. It is a great adventure, lovingly made, beautifully realized, and full of the action and romance of the pulp stories that inspired it. Based on the 1912 story by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, who is considered the grandfather of American science fiction, directors and studios have struggled throughout the last century to bring this epic tale to the big screen. Everything from Flash Gordon, to Star Wars to Avatar was directly inspired or influenced by John Carter's escapades on Mars (or Barsoom as it's called by the natives), but it wasn't until the once science fiction setting of 2011 that computer technology finally caught up to Burroughs' prolific imagination, making it possible to bring his amazing otherworldly cities, creatures and flying ships to vivid life.

As breathtaking and essential to the story as the special effects are, it was Academy Award-winner Andrew Stanton's direction, and the performances of the cast (including the CGI ones) that made me fall in love with this movie. For me, the heart of the film is the impossible yet destined romance between wayward Virginia cavalryman John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) and his literal star-crossed lover, the Martian princess, scientist and swordswoman, Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). The performances of and chemistry between Kitsch and Collins are so convincing I can't imagine anyone else playing these roles. And the thousands of green-skinned, nine-foot-tall, four-armed Martian Tharks who make up most of the supporting cast are just as convincing, even though they exist entirely as digital pixels. The only thing that kept me from believing that they were real is the knowledge that they can't be, and the motion-captured performances of the major Thark actors (Willem DaFoe, Thomas Haden Church, Samantha Morton and Polly Walker) convey as much emotion and character as any of their corporeal co-stars. This also goes for Woola, the Martian doglike callot, who quickly becomes Carter's faithful best friend and protector.

My only criticism of the movie is the five minute prologue, which I feel takes away from the wonder of Carter's initial Martian journey as it was presented by Burroughs (to rectify this, I recommend starting the movie from scene two, which is when the opening title credit appears). It was mainly for this reason that I was going to give John Carter only four stars, until I realized that the last five minutes--which I consider one of the greatest movie endings in film history--totally offsets the deficit of the awkward beginning.

Regrettably, I missed John Carter when it was in theaters, having been unduly influenced by undeservedly negative reviews from members of the film industry press who deemed the movie a critical and financial failure--almost entirely as a result of Disney's incomprehensible and incompetent marketing decisions (such as dropping "of Mars" from the title) and false reports of skyrocketing production costs (for more on Disney's marketing debacle, read Michael D. Sellers' excellent exposé, John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood).

Fortunately, John Carter has found a second life and a growing fan following through people viewing it on television, computer and tablet, who are as mystified as I am at how so many critics could fail to appreciate this movie's many charms. Hopefully, as more and more people give this film the chance it deserves, that fan following will eventually reach a critical mass, and those of us who didn't make it last time will get a second opportunity to see Barsoom on the big screen in a John Carter sequel.