Review of John Carter (2012) by Hoops2448 — 23 Mar 2012

One word I keep reading in relation to John Carter is inconsistent. I felt that choice of word was excellent because the biggest crimes of John Carter is that it buries the fact it actually has emotional resonance underneath cheap thrill action sequences and comedy sequences designed for the Disney family (the Disney family that in the end, didn't go to see the film).

The character of John Cater is a conflicted one having suffered severe loss prior to his transportation to Mars. However this issue is glossed over as he begins leaping around the planet and getting involved in a war that's justification is NEVER given.

In fact the film explores different parts of John Carter's personality at different times in the film so you have to struggle through his problems with wars in general before you really get to why he is the way he is.

There is a sequence halfway through that is so powerful and poignant that it almost saves the film because it finally gives the viewer someone to support, someone to root for, but then the film returns to its predictable action and linear storytelling and everything that was good is bad again.

Taylor Kitsch does a decent job portraying Carter regardless of the bad script and storytelling but he is let down by most of his supporting cast. Lynn Collins puts little effort in and never seems comfortable in the role making her scenes irritating, Dominic West tries to get by on charm but he fails to realise he doesn't have any and Ciaran Hinds looks as bored as he must have felt.

The films 250 million dollar budget is evident in some truly stunning visuals but at times they can be a bit jarring in that the humans and creatures never really mesh when they are on screen together.

However the CGI and the world created by Andrew Stanton is beautiful in the way Avatar was despite the large amount of sand. The film at times borders on cute because its a Disney film but overall it doesn't provide enough character to even pull that off.

It's a shame as they advertised the film as '100 years in the making' as Edgar Rice Burroughs published the first of his John Carter novels in 1912.