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| Finally a cinematic reality: JOHN CARTER. Images: DISNEY. |
JOHN
CARTER
Starring
Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, and Willem DaFoe
Written
by Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews and Michael Chabon
Directed
by Andrew Stanton
Available
on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD from WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Reviewed by Scott
Weller
Making a spirited
leap (literally and figuratively) from the evocative pages of the written word
to the visual reality of the cinematic screen, that indomitable hero of Edgar
Rice Burroughs vivid imagination for fantasy and action, John Carter, the
downtrodden American Civil War exile soon newly christened Warrior of Mars,
finally arrives for his big screen debut after years of setbacks, delays and
changing directors in a highly enjoyable and criminally under-rated crowd
pleaser that is his first (and hopefully not last) big budget action/fantasy
fest, now available to own on Blu-ray and DVD from DISNEY HOME VIDEO.
Alongside Carter
in making his debut in the big budget, big artistic decision world that is the
live-action movie-making arena, after a highly successful and innovative spell
for PIXAR with top animation films including FINDING NEMO and WALL-E, Andrew
Stanton’s childhood to manhood love and enthusiasm for the subject matter/book
series, and the lead character in particular, certainly shows within the 250
million budget plus pot-pourri that’s certainly up there for all to see, creating
a believable universe that I’m sure its 1900’s originator would have been proud
of.
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| Taylor Kitsch as John Carter, Warrior of Mars! |
Alongside
co-screen writers Andrews and Chabon, in a world post STAR WARS and ALIEN (the
former particularly heavily influenced by the works and imagination of
Burroughs storytelling and characters), Stanton revitalizes the ground-breaking
genre hero and his environment and re-works/updates certain elements to a more
crowd pleasing and audience accessible way, to the true kidults in all of us,
as well as introducing new elements to appeal to a broader spectrum, especially
families with young children.
Best described to
the average Joe as Conan in Space
(that celebrated Earth bound hero of a sword and sorcery age, and another one
of Burroughs past successes within his literary career, alongside the ever
iconic Tarzan), Carter, a victim of the perils and misfortunes of the
tumultuous American Civil War, stumbles on an ancient cave and teleport system
that sends him through time and space to Mars (whose inhabitants refer to it as
Barsoom), where, discovering that his physical strength and agility have been
altered to almost SUPERMAN-like status due to the differing low gravity
atmosphere of Mars, he soon becomes a handy game changer for the films main
plot when he becomes embroiled in a
power struggle between two warring humanoid clans clashing for control (one
side aided by a mysterious outside force), of which a young and beautiful
Princess is caught in the middle, trapped in a soon-to-be union to a warrior
pirate in order to cement a new peace initiative.
After being dubbed
an actor of promise with his appearance as Gambit in the X-MEN ORIGINS:
WOLVERINE spin-off of 2009, Taylor Kitsch, playing our long haired lead, has
had a bit of an unlucky time of things this year, what with the less than
meteoric performances of CARTER, and the later released BATTLESHIP, at the US
box office (the latter well and truly sunk due to its being outclassed and
outgunned by the incredible resilience, popularity and just well-made fun of
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE). A young Harrison Ford he certainly ain’t, but Kitsch will
be around for the future, I reckon, of which he certainly holds his own in pretty
solid fashion within this large cinematic universe/confectionery of big scale
action and unleashed monsters, playing the role with a reasonable, if slightly
underdeveloped, backstory- Carter’s guilt of not being around to save his wife
during the prior American Civil War being the primary factor fuelling him into later
action man status capable of getting even the fiercest of Martian warriors
rattled!
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| Lovely Lynn Collins as Princess Dejah Thoris. |
Stealing
some of Kitsch’s thunder, Lynn Collins, another actor previously seen in WOLVERINE, is the young
Princess Dejah Thoris, and makes a startling and beautiful on-screen first
impression in the film: radiant in figure-making armour, Martian tanned red
skin and alien tattoos, and soon proving her worth as a gutsy heroine to rival
Princess Leia (even though she actually came before our Alderaanian Rebel
leader, if you see what I mean!), confidently wielding a sword and laser
blasting away as an equal to Carter as the enemy machinations grow against them. On the
alien front, Willem Dafoe gives a spirited and wonderful performance of
humour, friendship and courageous honour as the multi-limbed green alien leader
of the nomad tribe, Tars Tarkas, who you can’t help but take a shine to, of
which his friendship with John Carter develops well as it/he takes the newly
arrived human under his adoptive wing, recognizing his new powers and
eventually going into battle alongside him in order to stop the civil war now
being manipulated by dark outside forces.
The deep voiced anger of Thomas Hayden Church as Tarkas rival warrior
clan leader, Tal Hajus, adds a lively counterbalance to Dafoe’s heroism.
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| Willem Dafoe is great as the alien leader Tal Hajus. |
I can’t say that
the characterizations of both the films heroes and villains are deep and
meaningful but Stanton certainly picks a strong supporting cast to bolster
things up around his two leads, making the most of what they have in what was
intended be the first of a franchise, including ROME TV series veterans Ciaran
Hinds and James Purefoy back in splendid robes, armour and sandals once more,
alongside other notables including Dominic West as the primary baddie Sab Than,
and the always reliable Mark Strong, carving out a fine supporting character
acting career in big budget films, what with recent appearances in the likes of Russell Crowe's ROBIN HOOD, SHERLOCK HOLMES, another underrated fantasy THE GREEN LANTERN, and this, playing a mysterious and
all-powerful, all-knowing blue eyed shape changer, Matai Shang, whose ultimate
follow through in the story I will not spoil. Other cast solid cast members
include Brit ladies Polly Walker and Samantha Morton, whilst BREAKING BAD’s
Bryan Cranston makes an early cameo.
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| Woolas: a CGI star in the making! |
A fine CGI
creation amidst the live-action cast, as well as a sea of intriguing monsters
and beings, is Woola: it may look squat and ugly but don’t be deceived, he’s
one of the film’s best characters- a perfect DISNEY/PIXAR creation- becoming
Carter’s lovable and scene-stealing pet/companion in battle, who can move at
lightning speed. A cute and delightful addition for younger audiences to enjoy,
and a soon cult favourite.
Further quirky
humour and action keeps the film moving along to its spectacular crash and bang
finale, whilst the Earth set framing sequences around the film’s middle
(featuring a young Edgar Rice Burroughs finding out the truth about his friend
Carter) are also noteworthy, amidst a wondrous showcase for all the talented
artists and designers bringing out the period details as well as the faraway
majesty and dangers of the Martian landscape and its peoples, realized in
beautiful enhanced location filming within the wild and wonderful national
parks of Utah, and which have never looked better in striking Blu-ray, whether
watching it in 2 or 3D, alongside some fine effects work from multiple
technical houses: check out the awesome insect-winged flying ships and the
moving city of one of the films chief villains. The incidental music by LOSTs
Michael Giacchnio also adds some nice touches here and there, though his scores
are now all starting to sound exactly the same as each other to my own personal
ear…
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| The movie boasts great effects work. |
On the Blu-ray
extras side, there’s a solid if not totally fulfilling batch of extras
including a positive and informative commentary from director Stanton and
producers Jim Morris and Lindsey Collins, who also talk about the big challenges
of the films ultimate realization, a selection of deleted scenes (with optional
directors commentary), some of which are part animatic or incomplete- all nice
to see if ultimately nothing to write home about (interesting that they’ve
included the original beginning to the film, too, which I think Disney was
right to excise and re-film/re-structure: a new action beginning was indeed
needed to kick start the film and its alien characters/environment), 360 Degrees of John Carter: a fun and
reasonable length look at the day in the life behind the scenes look at Andrew
Stanton and the cast/crew as they film one of the films pivotal finale action
set pieces in England, enjoyable on-set bloopers, and 100 Years In The Making (also available as a singular extra on the
DVD release): a nice, if too short, look back at Edgar Rice Burroughs and his
creation of John Carter in books, comics and finally in its long in the works
translation to movie form, including a nice contribution from IRON MAN director
Jon Favreau, who almost got his own vision of the film off the ground a few
years prior…
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| In the Geonosis...sorry, Barsoom arena! |
Launching the 2012
blockbuster season in a spirited fashion this past March, the film’s ultimately
positive but not massive box office results were generally regarded as being down
to it being poorly promoted worldwide by Disney (who allegedly just didn’t know
how to effectively market it in these difficult, all-consuming times of
economic stress). Yes, it made money at the box office, but seemingly not
enough to justify its huge production and publicity costs. (The latter I
thought was pretty non-existent, with early poster campaigns that were weak and
directionless, whilst the early trailers were nowhere near as exemplary and
deserving of the film, its characters and overall plot as they should have been.
The later, better trailers arriving at cinemas and online were way too late to
be successfully appreciated, IMO). The cinematic opportunity to really tag the
experiences as a bold and in your face Before
STAR WARS, there was JOHN CARTER type statement to audiences was incredulously
lost by the seemingly clueless American publicity team which also didn’t want
to use the words “warrior” or “Mars” in the title, either, especially the
latter, after the failure of several other space/sci-fi films previously set on
that planet. All of this was a bit of a shame, really, though I confidently
predict that JOHN CARTER will find a
strong audience on the small screen and will
become a cult classic, much like other undeserved past flops, like the original
Tron, The Dark Crystal and The
Rocketeer, that will be much appreciated and enjoyed in the years to come.
If this proves to be the one and only adventure for the Mars relocated hero,
though, it’s not too bad as both a beginning and an end…
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| John Carter: Martian journeyman! |
It may take a
while for average audiences to get past some of the funny sounding names of
characters and planets, and ignore some of the bad press about the film (most
of it just negative for negativity’s sake), but if you watch it in the spirit
for which it was made and intended, you may be pleasantly surprised…
With all the
elements that George Lucas would mine so successfully with his beloved STAR
WARS films, if thirty- five years late to the party!, and packed with tons of
action, swordplay, big monsters and handsome people, fans of JOHN
CARTER can only hope that it makes enough money in Blu-ray and DVD sales to
make the studio bosses change their minds for the future. Another trip to that
mysterious Red Planet and its world of warriors and wonder would be great to
experience…
AFICIONADO RATINGS:
MOVIE:
7.5 out of 10
BLU-RAY/DVD
EXTRAS: 7 out of 10
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