By various accounts, there have been attempts to bring Edgar Rice Burrough's second most well known character, planet hopping John Carter, to the screen as far back as the 1930s. However, it has taken until 2012, the centenary of the publication of A Princess of Mars, the first John Carter tale, for those efforts to finally bear fruit. Disney's John Carter is full of what you would expect from epic pulp science fiction: multi-limbed, green-skinned aliens, a square jawed hero and a beautiful woman for him to alternately save and fall in love with. The problem, however, is all these elements are in service to a seemingly endless slog through a pastiche of familiar components without a compelling reason to exist.
The film opens with a fast as lightning narration that will possibly leave the uninitiated scratching their heads as the scene is set: on the planet of Mars, known as Barsoom to its indigenous inhabitants, the Zondangans are attempting to strip mine the planet of its resources (I think). Opposing them are the people of Helium, led by Tardos Mors (Ciaran Hinds), against the evil Zodangan leader, Sab Than (Dominic West). However, Sab has formed an alliance with a group of creatures that the people of Barsoom view as assistance to their great goddess, Isis, named Therns. The Therns, primarily represented by Matai Shang (Mark Strong), have given Sab a powerful weapon that he is using to subdue the people of Helium so that they can engage in a nefarious plot. Meanwhile, on Earth in the late 1800s, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), a former Confederate soldier, is prospecting for Gold in the Arizona territory when he accidentally encounters a Thern in a cave and is teleported to Mars, where the difference in gravity and the density of his body gives him the ability to leap through the air as if the whole planet was a giant trampoline.
Shortly after arriving on Mars, John is captured by Tharks, the previously mentioned aliens, whose leader, Tars Tarkas (the voice of Willem Dafoe and some decent computer animation for the visual appearance), takes a liking to Carter. Through various plot machinations, John ends up saving the Helium princess Deja Thoris (Lynn Collins) from the clutches of Sab, who desires to marry her so he can gain power on Mars. Deja convinces Carter she can get him back to Earth, but hopes to convince him to take up the cause against the Zondangans to save Mars.
The John Carter of Mars series of books have long been favorites of authors and filmmakers who would shape science fiction throughout the 20th century, including such luminaries as Ray Bradbury and George Lucas. Over the years, elements of the John Carter stories have been cherry picked and utilized in so many other works that, now that the "original" material is finally being adapted, frankly, it manages to look derivative and old hat. I am aware of the historical significance of Burrough's work, so while I can reconcile the fact that John Carter feels like it is ripping off other films that actually ripped their elements off from the John Carter stories, it doesn't change the fact that this film is late to the party compared to so many others, and looks it. Many familiar elements to modern audiences are on display, such as a princess in danger, megalomaniacal villains who desire world domination, alien beings with strong, instilled senses of honor, so on and so forth. John Carter cannot help the fact it looks like it is robbing other, better films.
Much of this could be forgiven if John Carter was a rousing tale, but alas, it is not. The film spends an interminable amount of time setting up its story, introducing characters who prove one-dimensional, and moving slowly through familiar paces, that it quickly wears out its welcome. John Carter also unveils its narrative in a rather haphazard manner, leading to an extensive learning curve for audience members who are not well versed in the stories on which the film is based. Once the narrative is going it doesn't prove impenetrable, but it also feels as if big chunks of explanation have ended up on the cutting room floor.
Carter is given a tragic backstory, and at one point it does provide a degree of pathos to him, but aside from that, these are people we don't really care about. Carter and Deja are supposed to be smitten for one another, but there is no legitimate chemistry, just a screenplay mandated romance. The villains are rather limp as well, with Dominic West providing his best dastardly villain turn but proving somewhat cheesy and obvious, and Mark Strong plays his character with very little energy, not giving the audience someone to root against.
Kitsch certainly looks the role as a hero, but the screenplay gives him little to do that endears John Carter to us. Lynn Collins, with reddened skin and tattoos, projects a degree of exotic beauty that makes her a good choice for Deja Thoris, and her character is endowed with a little more material to work with. Ciaran Hinds is here to look important and collect a paycheck, James Purefoy is here to provide an offbeat, playful guard to Deja and collect a paycheck and the most endearing character proves to be a computer generated, six legged, fast- as-The-Flash dog creature that you can't help but find cute.
John Carter has an impressive filmmaking pedigree behind it, including director Andrew Stanton who previously helmed the Pixar films Finding Nemo and Wall-E, and award winning novelist Michael Chabon who is an admitted Burroughs fan. It is unfortunate that such talent serve up something so lackluster, but John Carter proves an underwhelming affair that will most likely have audience members shifting in their seats well before the running time is half over. Edgar Rice Burrough's character deserves better.
The film opens with a fast as lightning narration that will possibly leave the uninitiated scratching their heads as the scene is set: on the planet of Mars, known as Barsoom to its indigenous inhabitants, the Zondangans are attempting to strip mine the planet of its resources (I think). Opposing them are the people of Helium, led by Tardos Mors (Ciaran Hinds), against the evil Zodangan leader, Sab Than (Dominic West). However, Sab has formed an alliance with a group of creatures that the people of Barsoom view as assistance to their great goddess, Isis, named Therns. The Therns, primarily represented by Matai Shang (Mark Strong), have given Sab a powerful weapon that he is using to subdue the people of Helium so that they can engage in a nefarious plot. Meanwhile, on Earth in the late 1800s, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), a former Confederate soldier, is prospecting for Gold in the Arizona territory when he accidentally encounters a Thern in a cave and is teleported to Mars, where the difference in gravity and the density of his body gives him the ability to leap through the air as if the whole planet was a giant trampoline.
Shortly after arriving on Mars, John is captured by Tharks, the previously mentioned aliens, whose leader, Tars Tarkas (the voice of Willem Dafoe and some decent computer animation for the visual appearance), takes a liking to Carter. Through various plot machinations, John ends up saving the Helium princess Deja Thoris (Lynn Collins) from the clutches of Sab, who desires to marry her so he can gain power on Mars. Deja convinces Carter she can get him back to Earth, but hopes to convince him to take up the cause against the Zondangans to save Mars.
The John Carter of Mars series of books have long been favorites of authors and filmmakers who would shape science fiction throughout the 20th century, including such luminaries as Ray Bradbury and George Lucas. Over the years, elements of the John Carter stories have been cherry picked and utilized in so many other works that, now that the "original" material is finally being adapted, frankly, it manages to look derivative and old hat. I am aware of the historical significance of Burrough's work, so while I can reconcile the fact that John Carter feels like it is ripping off other films that actually ripped their elements off from the John Carter stories, it doesn't change the fact that this film is late to the party compared to so many others, and looks it. Many familiar elements to modern audiences are on display, such as a princess in danger, megalomaniacal villains who desire world domination, alien beings with strong, instilled senses of honor, so on and so forth. John Carter cannot help the fact it looks like it is robbing other, better films.
Much of this could be forgiven if John Carter was a rousing tale, but alas, it is not. The film spends an interminable amount of time setting up its story, introducing characters who prove one-dimensional, and moving slowly through familiar paces, that it quickly wears out its welcome. John Carter also unveils its narrative in a rather haphazard manner, leading to an extensive learning curve for audience members who are not well versed in the stories on which the film is based. Once the narrative is going it doesn't prove impenetrable, but it also feels as if big chunks of explanation have ended up on the cutting room floor.
Carter is given a tragic backstory, and at one point it does provide a degree of pathos to him, but aside from that, these are people we don't really care about. Carter and Deja are supposed to be smitten for one another, but there is no legitimate chemistry, just a screenplay mandated romance. The villains are rather limp as well, with Dominic West providing his best dastardly villain turn but proving somewhat cheesy and obvious, and Mark Strong plays his character with very little energy, not giving the audience someone to root against.
Kitsch certainly looks the role as a hero, but the screenplay gives him little to do that endears John Carter to us. Lynn Collins, with reddened skin and tattoos, projects a degree of exotic beauty that makes her a good choice for Deja Thoris, and her character is endowed with a little more material to work with. Ciaran Hinds is here to look important and collect a paycheck, James Purefoy is here to provide an offbeat, playful guard to Deja and collect a paycheck and the most endearing character proves to be a computer generated, six legged, fast- as-The-Flash dog creature that you can't help but find cute.
John Carter has an impressive filmmaking pedigree behind it, including director Andrew Stanton who previously helmed the Pixar films Finding Nemo and Wall-E, and award winning novelist Michael Chabon who is an admitted Burroughs fan. It is unfortunate that such talent serve up something so lackluster, but John Carter proves an underwhelming affair that will most likely have audience members shifting in their seats well before the running time is half over. Edgar Rice Burrough's character deserves better.