Country:
USA
Starring:
Taylor Kitsch
Lynn Collins
Williem Defoe
Thomas Haden Church
Dominic West
Bryan Cranston
Mark Strong
Directed By:
Andrew Stanton
Nothing about Disney's JOHN CARTER really ever made sense, in the Hollywood landscape. "Insiders" called its doom before it even came out, saying it would crash and burn at its first week-end at the box-office. They got that one right, it totally did. The movie single-handedly put Disney into a mass layoffs situation. Now, knowing that the only real publicity I saw for the movie was a single billboard in the subway and internet haters, saying it was a silly knockoff of AVATAR, I couldn't help but ask myself if the negative hype killed JOHN CARTER's chances to succeed? Because as soon as you dig into it, the project becomes interesting. It's based on Edgar Rice Burrough's PRINCESS OF MARS novels. Yes, from the same pulp writer who invented Tarzan. One became a cinema classic, so why wouldn't the other be? JOHN CARTER ended its silver screen run by barely covering its expenses, but now that it's available on DVD and for on-demand rental, the truth about it will come out. I thought it was a solid movie. Maybe not unforgettable, but strong adventure film that honors its creator.
If you decide to watch JOHN CARTER, you have to know you're in for some serious pulp fiction. It is not boggled whatsoever by realism. It's 100% balls-to-the-wall, crazy science-fiction about a man from Virginia, who lives about Martians. Yes, you read that well. John Carter (Kitsch) is a sad, broken man who lives in hope to find a gold mine in Virginia, when he stumbles upon a strange artifact that teleports him to Mars. Turns out there is a breathable atmosphere on this planet and the gravity alterations give him superhero abilities, like jumping crazy distances. Carter also stumbles in the middle of an intergalatic conflict though (that's what I mean, by unapologetic pulp fiction), where a race of technologically advanced beings make a play for the control of Mars, via giving power to a brutal, but stupid dictator (they must be trained by the CIA). So John Carter, once a broken Earthling, finds a war AND a gorgeous woman (Collins) worth fighting for.
Let's get it out of the way first, the comparisons with AVATAR are ludicrous. There are similar elements (notably twelve foot tall aliens), but JOHN CARTER is an adventure movie with legs and originality, if maybe a little pompous and classic in its approach as James Cameron's film is more of a drug-fueled, 3D Pocahontas ripoff, in deep space. Different animals. The only major problem I had with JOHN CARTER is the way it manages its story. I have nothing against the classic Hollywood storytelling approach, but it's really stretching out thin here. It could have shaved a good ten minutes off at the end, amongst other things. Don't expect to find too much "eerie-ness" to John Carter's transition to Mars. There's one scene where he gets used to the gravity, but that's it. But that's the beauty of pulp. Characters get caught in the craziest situations and just go with the flow, so things get crazier and crazier. In that regards, Andrew Stanton does great justice to Edgar Rice Burroughs as you get the feeling John Carter gets into all that trouble just because her was asked to by a sexy chick.
And sexy, that chick is. Lynn Collins, whom I didn't know before watching this movie, will make you flinch. Part of why she looks so good, me thinks, is because she's doesn't look like a plastic surgery nightmare. Her nose could be considered big by Hollywood standards, but it really just makes her look more like...you know...real beautiful women. Doesn't hurt that she can act, too. She's given the most dramatic scenes in the movie, along with Thomas Haden Church and Dominic West (both very capable actors) and she makes them justice. Taylor Kitsch has a more limited range, but the action hero part doesn't ask too much dramatic muscle out of him. He looks great bouncing around in action scenes, but whenever the script requires more intimate play...he struck me as looking...very young? Like a twelve years old masquerading as an adult. Kitsch starred in a lot of adolescent stuff and is just starting to broaden up his range, so he's bound to only get better. He already was as Chon, in Oliver Stone's SAVAGES.
JOHN CARTER isn't exactly breakthrough filmmaking, but it's a courageous venture, to try and make Edgar Rice Burroughs hot again. Teleportation, Martians, inter-galactic conflict, dubious, CIA-like aliens. It had everything to please me, but it sure will overwhelm some viewers. Truth it, it could have been packaged under two hours and have been more efficient. The attempt to milk a more emotional content was a mistake as it clashed with the overall tone of the movie and therefore could've been tweaked down. But Andrew Stanton has an A for effort. The battles have crazy large scales, the action scenes are blood-pumping and never drag and he makes space as colorful as a FLINSTONES episode. Ultimately, JOHN CARTER is faithful to the spirit of pulp fiction, because it's fun and it's the same reason why it's a good movie. It's an wild adventure that won't leave you with the empty feeling of having been molested by a Hollywood executive. It's Andrew Stanton who took the abuse.
SCORE: 80%
* Always use the word in brackets, because most of them are broken up, attention deprived people who failed in movieland. Their gossip are hearsays of people regular journalists wouldn't quote to save their jobs.