MOVIE REVIEW: 'John Carter' good, not great
Andrew Stanton is well-known for his work writing and directing animated films for Pixar Animation Studios, but “John Carter” is his first major foray into directing a live-action film.
The result is a movie that is enjoyable overall, but somewhat of a mixed bag from scene to scene.
The film follows John Carter, played by Taylor Kitsch, on an adventure that begins in America during the late 1800s and ends up on the planet Mars, which is known as Barsoom to its native inhabitants.
Kitsch does a nice job as John Carter. He lends a good amount of charisma and believability to the character, making it easy for audiences to relate and become invested in whether or not he will succeed in his quest.
The best parts of “John Carter” are the beautifully rendered CGI characters, scenery and action scenes.
The first Martian race that viewers will see are the Tharks, a race of extremely tall green creatures that have four arms and tusks that protrude from their faces. The particular tribe of Tharks that Carter becomes acquainted with is led by Tars Tarkas, who is voiced by Willem Dafoe.
The Tharks look good enough, but their fantastic facial animations and subtle body language really help bring the CGI species to life.
The various settings and machines in the film look great as well, along with the action that takes place on them. Zodanga, which is a massive walking city, and the various aircrafts flown by the Martians look absolutely jaw-dropping. Despite some anticlimactic conclusions, the action scenes combine all the best parts of “John Carter” and are consistently fun to watch.
Unfortunately the main story is one of the most lacking things about the film. Carter’s quest to save a princess from a forced marriage isn’t very interesting, and the same is true for the subplot involving Tarkas’ tribe.
The relationship between Carter and Dejah Thoris, voiced by Lynn Collins, is pretty flat and the pacing of the film is very inconsistent. Some scenes seem to end too quickly, while others seem to drag on too long.
It may be difficult for viewers to keep track of all the terms being thrown at them throughout the course of the film like Jeddaks, Tharks and Therns.
Overall, “John Carter” looks phenomenal, but lacks very much substance to keep viewers engaged. It is far from perfect, but at the very least it should leave viewers excited to see what comes next for the main character.
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action Rating: PG-13 Score: 3 out of 5
