One good thing to the financial flop of John Carter is that it came to the DVD store fast.
I've been psyched about this film since I first saw the pencil tests for a Thark a couple of years ago (or did I imagine that?). I was disconcerted when I heard they had removed "of Mars" from the title. But once the negative reviews started coming out, I had no more fear. I felt sure that the naysayers were all idiots.
And I was right. John Carter is a lot of fun. It starts with a frame story: A young man in the late 19th century inherits the estate of his eccentric wealthy uncle John Carter. He finds Carter's diary and we go into a flashback, the main story - Carter (Taylor Kitsch) in the American Southwest during the Civil War. He finds a mysterious cave full of gold, and a strange icon, and is transported to Mars.
Carter discovers that his Earth gravity muscles let him jump 40-ft high, in a hilariously realistic, spastic way. As the film goes on, he discovers that races and politics of the red planet: the 4-armed green Tharks, riding banthas, a speedy little frogdog, flying machines, cities and a princess of Mars (Lynn Collins).
The story is well told, the action is great, the art direction beautiful. Taylor Kitsch did a great job in the title role. I'm hoping to see more of him, which hasn't been my experience with all of the young muscle guys I've seen.
When the "flashback" ends, we're brought back to the young man reading the diary (Daryl Sabara). I won't spoil his name, but his initials are E.R.B.
The ending is a great setup for a sequel, which I assume will never happen. And that's the bad thing about the financial flop of John Carter.
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I also liked John Carter (of Mars?). I don't know if it helped that I had read all the books recently, but I thought it was entertaining.
Badly marketed, I think. If you make a movie set on Mars, don't shy away from that fact. And if its from the same guy who created Tarzan, don't hide that either. Yes, other movies set on Mars have done badly, but you know what? They were bad movies. Have the courage of your convictions. Go big, or go home.
But they didn't ask me ...
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