Originally published in Belleville News-Democrat in March 2012
What It’s About: So much cosmic mumbo-jumbo is going on in “John Carter”! With a western flavor — even with its swords-and-sandals — it also brings to mind epic adventures from early serials to CGI-heavy blockbusters.
At first, this Disney action-fantasy appeared to be a hybrid of “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” (but think the over-stuffed and confusing “The Phantom Menace” and “The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” instead). Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “A Princess of Mars,” a Civil War veteran hunting for gold is teleported from Earth to Mars, where there is a civil war between the Heliumites and Zondangans. Of course, our scruffy hero, able to leap great distances in outer space, gets in the middle and falls for the princess-scientist warrior.
Settings: 1868 Arizona, 1881 New York City, and the planet Mars.
Performances: Taylor Kitsch, all buff and rebel-ready, leaps to leading man roles with this strong savior-adventurer portrayal. Memorable in TV’s “Friday Night Lights,” the former Abercrombie and Fitch model does everything expected of him here. Lynn Collins, quite a stunner as the beautiful royal who’s also brainy, makes her mark as Dejah, forced to marry bad guy Sab Than (Dominic West) in her dad’s attempts to make peace between the warring tribes. But the mysterious John Carter’s captured her fancy. The eventual lovebirds are just saddled with these generic bland roles.
What Works: The last third redeems it, for finally the movie begins to resemble one you can care about — after being bombarded with video game-like combat and overwhelming battle scenes for nearly two hours. The 12-ft. tall barbarians called Tharks, with their double arms and tusks, figure prominently, and voiced by Willem Dafoe, Thomas Haden Church and Samantha Morton, they actually stand out. Remind you of ‘Avatar,” perhaps?
What Doesn’t Work: The lack of originality hurts, with its mash-up of so many different oversized heroes who have gone before. Granted, Lucas and Spielberg were influenced by the stories of their childhood when they created the Jedi and the Lost Ark. Imagining Mars 100 years ago was a bigger fantasy stretch, but even with the bells and whistles of today, some elements are just laughable (for example, Ciaran Hinds’ wig, and fighting with spears when you have shiny technology?).
Clunky dialogue and weak exposition do not help make sense of what’s happening. With a plethora of characters, it is hard to keep track of who’s who, and separate the good guys from the bad, not to mention the lumbering creatures. There is so much elaborate hardware without any real purpose, and grandiose set design amid the dust is overload. The movie looks expensive, but at what cost? Cohesiveness!
Andrew Stanton, who directed the enchanting ‘Finding Nemo” and “WALL-E,” gets a shot at his first live-action feature. Had there been a sprinkling of that Pixar charm, it could have made a big difference.
Venhaus Creative 