"When I saw you, I believed it was a sign... that something new can come into this world." Plot: A civil war veteran named John Carter is magically transported to Mars which is inhabited by green 12-foot, four armed barbarians known as the Tharks, and humans who are almost as technologically advanced as we are. Carter finds he has super-strength due to his bone density. Before long he becomes involved in a war that if not won by the city of Helium might spill over to Earth.
Directed by Andrew Stanton( A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, Wall-E) and based on the novels by Edgar Rice Burrows(who makes an appearance as Carter's nephew), John Carter is a movie that could have been a masterpiece had it not been for the terrible script. It is almost like the writers, well if you can call them that, took the script from James Cameron's Avatar, crossed out a few things, added a minor plot point here and there, and called it a day. The Tharks are the Na'vi, Mars is Pandora, even how Carter got to Mars is nearly identical to how Jake Sully got transferred into his Avatar body, etc. The rest of the plot is taken from every Disney movie involving a princess. When it isn't doing those things it's ripping off Star Wars as well. There were countless times I either groaned or laughed when making the connections. There's nothing original about it. NOTHING. Now I haven't read the books, so it is quite possible James Cameron could have ripped off them, but until I am corrected I stand by my opinion that the script is absolute rubbish. It blows my mind that the man who gave us such treasures such as Wall-E and Finding Nemo could give us such a measly script. John Carter is such a bonehead his character to the point where he becomes unlikeable. He is put into situations that he could have simply avoided by speaking up. But maybe that makes him more human, still that doesn't give him the right to be a total idiot. That isn't the fault of actor Taylor Kitsch, who does OK despite what he's been given. Lynn Collins was the perfect choice for the role if Princess Dejah Thoris. She is both beautiful and a joy to watch. Dominic Cooper and Mark Strong as always make good villains. Willem Dafoe, Thomas Hayden Church, Samantha Morton, and Polly Walker( Atia of the Julii in the short lived but fantastic series Rome) all do great as the voices of the Tharks. My only problem is the miscasting of James Purefoy(who also starred in Rome) who's role as the Princess's right hand man is so minor they could have just done without him. Still even though he has only 10 or so lines, he still manages to stand out a bit. In my opinion Purefoy should have had Cooper's role as he also would have made a good villain. Breaking Bad's Brian Kranston makes a short but good appearance. Kids will enjoy the dog-like six legged creature. He is primarily used for comic relief, but doesn't overdo it like Jar Jar Binks did in Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace. But the greatest things about this movie are the costumes and effects. The costumes alone make this movie worth checking out and should be nominated in next year's Academy Awards. The same goes for the effects, but even those can't match Avatar's. Another thing I enjoyed was the landscape effects and cinematography. We are treated to sweeping shots of the Martian surface with ancient ruins even though it looks like Utah where it was filmed. The shots are nice but I never really felt as if I was on Mars. One final thing I enjoyed was the use of the color blue. Rather it be the blood, or the color of the characters' eyes, it really sticks out from the red and rustic colors. All in all I wasn't that impressed with it due to the fact that it IS a rip-off of Avatar and offers nothing new, but I did like a few things about it. Kids might enjoy it, but don't count on too many adults giving it high praise, because in the end, it is just another mindless action movie. Total Score: 4.8/10 Correction: Turns out Avatar did rip off the Princess of Mars books, but this movie could have still changed a few things around in order for the two films to not be exactly alike and it fails in the areas where Avatar succeeded.
Directed by Andrew Stanton( A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, Wall-E) and based on the novels by Edgar Rice Burrows(who makes an appearance as Carter's nephew), John Carter is a movie that could have been a masterpiece had it not been for the terrible script. It is almost like the writers, well if you can call them that, took the script from James Cameron's Avatar, crossed out a few things, added a minor plot point here and there, and called it a day. The Tharks are the Na'vi, Mars is Pandora, even how Carter got to Mars is nearly identical to how Jake Sully got transferred into his Avatar body, etc. The rest of the plot is taken from every Disney movie involving a princess. When it isn't doing those things it's ripping off Star Wars as well. There were countless times I either groaned or laughed when making the connections. There's nothing original about it. NOTHING. Now I haven't read the books, so it is quite possible James Cameron could have ripped off them, but until I am corrected I stand by my opinion that the script is absolute rubbish. It blows my mind that the man who gave us such treasures such as Wall-E and Finding Nemo could give us such a measly script. John Carter is such a bonehead his character to the point where he becomes unlikeable. He is put into situations that he could have simply avoided by speaking up. But maybe that makes him more human, still that doesn't give him the right to be a total idiot. That isn't the fault of actor Taylor Kitsch, who does OK despite what he's been given. Lynn Collins was the perfect choice for the role if Princess Dejah Thoris. She is both beautiful and a joy to watch. Dominic Cooper and Mark Strong as always make good villains. Willem Dafoe, Thomas Hayden Church, Samantha Morton, and Polly Walker( Atia of the Julii in the short lived but fantastic series Rome) all do great as the voices of the Tharks. My only problem is the miscasting of James Purefoy(who also starred in Rome) who's role as the Princess's right hand man is so minor they could have just done without him. Still even though he has only 10 or so lines, he still manages to stand out a bit. In my opinion Purefoy should have had Cooper's role as he also would have made a good villain. Breaking Bad's Brian Kranston makes a short but good appearance. Kids will enjoy the dog-like six legged creature. He is primarily used for comic relief, but doesn't overdo it like Jar Jar Binks did in Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace. But the greatest things about this movie are the costumes and effects. The costumes alone make this movie worth checking out and should be nominated in next year's Academy Awards. The same goes for the effects, but even those can't match Avatar's. Another thing I enjoyed was the landscape effects and cinematography. We are treated to sweeping shots of the Martian surface with ancient ruins even though it looks like Utah where it was filmed. The shots are nice but I never really felt as if I was on Mars. One final thing I enjoyed was the use of the color blue. Rather it be the blood, or the color of the characters' eyes, it really sticks out from the red and rustic colors. All in all I wasn't that impressed with it due to the fact that it IS a rip-off of Avatar and offers nothing new, but I did like a few things about it. Kids might enjoy it, but don't count on too many adults giving it high praise, because in the end, it is just another mindless action movie. Total Score: 4.8/10 Correction: Turns out Avatar did rip off the Princess of Mars books, but this movie could have still changed a few things around in order for the two films to not be exactly alike and it fails in the areas where Avatar succeeded.