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John Carter is a pulp-soaked spectacle of science fiction sound and vision. With eye-popping 3D effects that “whiz-bang” and “golly-gee” the senses down to their sockets, John Carter is a planet-hopping celebration of pulpy matters and pulse-rattling pomp. Far, far better in a galaxy of here and now than the Star Wars prequels and, at times, recalling the glory of the original trilogy in itself, Andrew Stanton’s movie delivers what Cameron’s bloated Avatar promised: a solid dazzling epic. Okay, breathe now (more a note to myself than to you, folks).
While purists of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs might argue with the choice of changing the title from The Princess of Mars to the rather plain-sounding John Carter, anyone with half a brain will know why and accept it as such. Nevermind all that nonsense, though. The movie, directed by Pixar alum Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo and WALL-E), is anything but plain. To be clear, it is worth every cent of whatever price you might pay to see it and see it again.
Adapted by Stanton and co-writers Michael Chabon and Mark Andrews, John Carter spends damn near 135 minutes to weave a mysterious tale that starts on Mars, goes to the year 1881 on Earth, to the post Civil War’s border disputes and back to Mars before wrapping the story up…back on Earth. Whew. Epic in nature and scope, the writers jam-pack their narrative with romance, adventure, and humor. Heroics aren’t too far behind. With pounding battles against warring aliens, white apes, and arena battles, the movie is a marketing nightmare that Disney still hasn’t figured out to sell properly.
Word of mouth will have to carry this vehicle to Mars and back. Allow me to help push.
John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is an American Civil War veteran who, after refusing to protect the border from the Apache threat in a hilariously constructed series of scenes, finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars. Due to his bone density, he is able to leap and bound like a relative superhero (he also has great strength) and, once discovered by Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and other specimens of the brutal Tharks, finds himself hilarious dubbed ‘Virginia’ and held as a captive who must follow the order to fight on the side of the Tharks. It is his remarkable skills that keep him as anything but a captive, that and Tars Taskas’ compassion.
Turns out that Mars is quite the battleground and Princess Dejah Thoris (a beautifully pulp-soaked and curvaceous Lynn Collins) of the city-state Helium is caught in the middle. She is a pawn in a marriage scam that is to unite two bitter enemies, but will only bring about its destruction as governed by Matai Shang (Mark Strong), leader of the Holy Therns. With voice work from Thomas Hayden Church, Samantha Morton, and featuring Bryan Cranston, Dominic West, and Ciarán Hinds, John Carter is more than a summary can supply.
The action beats and adventure thrills are through the roof with theatrics and heroics alike. It's imaginative and full of wonder. It's also a great adventure. Sure, there’s probably nothing all that new to the formula behind the mechanics of John Carter and, if you’ve seen Flash Gordon, you know the just how shiny and effectively delicious pulp material can appear on the silver screen, but what a success it is. The unyielding accomplishments that this film achieves are all on a geek’s checklist of good times.
John Carter feels so alive and refreshing at times that the narrative virtually breathes. There’s a rhythm to its rising and falling action that Stanton has created and, as such, the film feels perfectly natural through large parts of special effects-laden theatrics. Lots of movie magic (and lots of money) brought this film to life, though. Lots. To say this is an example of effortless entertainment would be an insult to all the people that worked so hard or dreamed so big to see John Carter happen. Certainly, the wait and the work have all been worth it.
As a movie, John Carter is equal to one thousand Flash Gordon’s in style and is as hero’s journey-minded as the whole of Lucas’s A New Hope. Joseph Campbell would be proud. Carter himself is a wounded man. Haunted by the failure of a first marriage that ended with the death of his wife, Carter cannot forgive himself nor let himself forget what he could not protect. The film, as if in answer to his consciousness, is edited together in such a fashion as to keep the past as mystery and somehow keep it forward-minded.
Engaging to the last breath, John Carter is the first (of several, I suspect) films that should not be missed as the summer season approaches. Having seen it once, I am already chomping at the proverbial bit to make a return visit to Mars.
Go witness its timeless tale of geekdom pulp and joy.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action.
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