![]() |
Lynn Collins and Taylor Kitsch as Dejah Thoris and John Carter
Credits:
Frank Connor/Disney
|
“John Carter” is based on the book, “A Princess of Mars,”
written in 1912 by Edgar Rice Burroughs, better known for his other big story, “Tarzan.”
In “Mars,” Burroughs is a character in the story as well. He is apparently the
nephew of Captain John Carter who was an American civil war veteran. The movie
opens with Burroughs discovering that Carter has left a diary for him to read
about Carter’s adventures on Mars.
While looking for gold in the Arizona mountains, Carter,
(Taylor Kitsch), find some mysteriously markings on the wall and soon finds
himself transported to the planet Mars otherwise known as Barsoom by its
inhabitants. He soon discovers that he has gained great strength and can leap
huge distances due to the planet’s lesser gravity. Carter meets Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe), one
of the Thark chiefs – tall, green, skinny natives who are battling the red
humanoid red Martian race. They capture the beautiful Dejah Thoris, (Lynn
Collins), a warrior princess of Helium. Carter rescues her and finds himself in
the middle of the planet’s own civil war.
I wasn’t very excited to see this picture, but was
pleasantly surprised when I did. It is reminiscent of “Star Wars,” “Avatar” and
even “Cowboys vs. Aliens.” It’s classic good guys vs. bad guys. It’s a good
action flick with some good humor as well. There is a running joke about Carter
trying to explain that he is John Carter from Virginia, but the aliens think
his name is Virginia. A theme I appreciated in the movie is that when Carter
first arrives to Mars, all he wants to do is go home. The aliens are impressed
with his super abilities and want him to fight for them, but he refuses to
fight for anyone but himself. However, he later decides to give of himself for
the good of others.
“John Carter” features great scenery and exciting explosions
but the 3D wasn’t impressive. While the Carter and Thoris are easy on the eyes,
but the movie doesn’t explore their personalities and doesn’t develop their
characters much. The movie runs long and each time you think you’re near the
end, there is another chapter to go through. Overall, it wasn’t my cup of
espresso.
“John Carter” may or may not become popular with the masses,
but, I believe the perfect audience for this film will be that of hardcore
sci-fi lovers. And Martians.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Let us know what you think!