Go see John Carter

I did get a chance to see the latest big budget Sci-Fi adventure John Carter from Disney and it exceeded my expectations. I read read a lot about the film online and became excited about it, though I did not know much about the character. The movie is a fun popcorn flick with plenty of action and special effects, but also has really endearing characters that you care about as a viewer. Taylor Kitsch who plays Carter and Lynn Collins who plays Dejah Thoris play their characters well and are so nice to look at the film could be about another thirty minutes. Both the laides and the guys should be pleased with this one. The special effects are top notch, perhaps the best I've seen since Avatar, so there is never a lack of eye candy from this film, whether it's computer generated magic or God given good looks.



The storyline of John Carter is really engaging as the narrative is driven by interesting characters the viewer can really care about. Carter is only slightly guilty of the typical sins of action movies which fans easily forgive. The plot does not move to fast, but monumental events in the fictional land of Barsoom do seem to develop fast enough so that we can just have John Carter save the day. At the heart of this film is a really beautiful love story that is shoved under the table for the action because, well, I guess that's not what we came to see for the most part. Disney sadly knew what it was doing with this film. The John Carter stories were popular a long time ago, but were great stories. There was the risk that nobody would care about this movie, and they'd loose money making it on a grand scale. They took a nearly epic story and condensed it into a film that is just a little over two hours. I hope that there will be sequels. In my opinion, it should have been written as a trilogy, but instead is a fun action movie left open for a sequel.

There are things that one can pick at about this movie. The character was created in the 1800's, so the fact that it takes place on Mars (which we clearly know is not inhabited) is cheesy even if we can pretend it's the story of a now dead civilization. Some of the technology does seem dreamed up by an 1800's projection of the future. Still, the film is enjoyable and holds up well. I'd recommend it to fans of hardcore Science Fiction and Action, or anyone that an appreciate a nice popcorn flick. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this film is it does end on a high note about the need for people to move beyond past sufferings, and take up a cause in life other than making money. I'd say more about that, but I don't want to spoil it for you. Perhaps I'll get "deep" about this movie in later postings. I have to go to work and see what other movies the martian princess (Lynn Collins) from this movie was in.