I don’t know what I expected to find in John Carter of Mars. I knew it was based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 11-volume Barsoom series. I knew it was directed by Andrew Stanton, director of Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Even if I wasn’t sure a movie about a guy going to Mars and stopping wars by leaping mountains in a single bound would be a hit or not, I figured it couldn’t be all that bad, being such a classic novel adapted by such an iconic director. Sadly, while this movie isn’t that bad, it never amounts to anything that good either.
The premise goes like this: John Carter, once a decorated Confederate soldier and now more of a vagrant, finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars in the middle of yet another war. While he wants nothing to do with wars anymore (especially the Civil type) he gets dragged into another conflict by Princess Dejah Thoris of Helium,who has a limited time to stop Sab Than, Prince of Zodanga, from conquering Barsoom: by either defeating his army, or marrying him. There’s also some time where Carter is taken in by the native warrior tribe the Tharks (and really, who could resist throwing in some green Martians?) and a conspiracy plot involving the Holy Therns, immensely powerful and secretive beings who warp politics to fit their whims.
The character of John Carter is perhaps the best thing about this movie. On the surface, he’s yet another noble soldier with a mysterious past; yet another honorable man plagued by his memories and inner demons. As played by Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights, Wolverine: Origins), he’s both a flawed hero and a comical everyman, especially when playing the “fish out of water” role once transported to Mars. John Carter‘s “man from another world” gimmick may even evoke another hero who comic fans are familiar with, especially when Kitsch’s Carter discovers his powers. There’s an underlying Superman theme that factors into Carter’s character and “powers” (or one could argue that there’s components of Burroughs’ character in Superman since Carter predated the Man of Steel by a few decades; the origins of Carter’s powers were even used to explain Superman’s abilities on Earth for a while). Either way, Carter comes off as likeable, funny, and courageous, no matter how many times he tries to escape being the champion of everyone’s cause.
Lynn Collins' Dejah has beauty, grace, and a warrior's edge... for all of 10 mins. After that, expect her to be more Princess Peach than Xena.
It’s everything else about this movie that ultimately makes John Carter feel weak. Dejah Thoris (played by Lynn Collins, who, like Kitsch, also played a major role in Wolverine: Origins) initially comes off resembling the warrior princess Lucy Lawless made popular. Collins’ Dejah is not only a princess fighting for her people, but willing to personally lay her life on the line in the heat of battle. Earlier on, Collins’ makes for a very good candidate for DC Comics’ Wonder Woman (if Warner Brothers ever creates a Justice League movie). Later, any semblance of strength and determination seems to drain right out of Dejah, making her more a damsel in distress than femme fatale (the worst moment being a particularly pathetic horror movie fall that happens midway into the flick). Also, Collins’ performance is called into question as the movie goes on: overacting is a word that often comes to mind. Maybe it’s the pulp fiction origins of the story, maybe its the direction of the plot, but between Collins’ overuse of emoting and the use of the typical British-accent-in-place-of-a-foreign-language schtick, her character comes off more and more like a cardboard cut-out than a three-dimensional character.
Dominic West’s Sab Than is the weakest character of them all, barely playing the role of the movie’s villain. Besides his poor attempt at malignance, West’s Sab Than is a bland bad guy who reads his lines with a drop of menace and enough personality to fill a bottlecap. The real antagonist could arguably be Mark Strong’s character Matai Shang, leader of the Holy Therns, whose manipulative qualities and shapeshifting abilities make him part Mystique, part Sith Lord, and part Matrix Agent, all rolled into one.
The best roles in the movie undoubtably go to the Tharks, whose brutal culture is rife with tons of societal conflicts that could have made for a great movie all on its own. With Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas, leader of the Tharks, Thomas Haden Church as his rival, Tal Hajus, Samantha Morton as the village punching bag, Sola, and Polly Walker as Sarkoja, Sola’s chief bully, the Tharks have not only great star power, but great struggles to play with. Unfortunately, their role in the movie falls into the territory of stock movie natives, providing the push that gets the plot moving and some humor to distract from the poor script.
With Andrew Stanton as director, John Carter could have been—should have been—more. Finding Nemo was a great animated movie with memorable characters; WALL-E had a perfect, well-paced script layered with emotion and relevant socio-political warnings. John Carter has a guy who… well, jumps. With a muddled plot that’s trying to do too many things at once, and characters worth forgetting as soon as the credits roll, this is a movie that ultimately fails at being anything more than average.
2
out of 5
