Hollywood has this uncanny knack of creating fantastic super hero movies unlike Bollywood where we are just getting started with Ra One.
However after watching John Carter one realizes that they don’t always get it right. In fact Disney got it completely wrong with John Carter.
The sci-fi adventure film that supposedly cost 250 million dollars to make falls flat in impressing the audience. Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs story “A Princess of Mars”, it is the story of John Carter a cavalryman from the state of Virginia who ends up on the planet Mars after he finds an amulet in a cave.
He then ends up finding himself in the middle of an entire civilization on Mars, which is experiencing a civil war.
Once on Mars John Carter finds himself captured by a green-skinned tribe called the “Tharks.” The difference in the planet’s gravity allows Carter to jump long distances and this is basically the only power that Carter has apart from his fighting skills as a soldier.
Later Carter happens to see an aerial fight between the forces of the Mars city of Helium and the forces of the evil man Sab Than and ends up saving Princess Dejah, who is the princess of Helium.
In the beginning John Carter wants to find a way to return home but Princess Dejah wants his help in saving her city and hence Barsoom (the name given to Mars in the film).
What ends up happening is predictable where he falls in love with her and ends up staying back to save Helium.
The script written by Andrew Stanton and Mark Andrews is confusing and wayward. There are too many events and angles built into the film. The film although promoted like an action film is more from the adventure and drama genre.
The romantic angle in the film could have really been reduced and an increase in the action element would have made the film more enjoyable.
The camera work is great and so are the locations and the costumes. The portrayal of Mars is quite believable. The supporting cast includes Lynn Collins who plays Dejah Thoris, Mark Strong who plays Matai Shang and William Dafoe and Samantha Morton lend their voices to the Thark characters of Sola and Tars Tarkas. All of them do a reasonably good job.
The fight sequences in the film are well shot and look great in 3D but the problem is that there are just too few of them.
The film in my opinion had all the elements of a great movie with an interesting concept, good actors and great graphics but failed from the very onset because of a weak and confused script.
As a viewer this film does not blow you away and there are times when you find it difficult to sit through it.
All and all a big disappointment considering the fantastic trailers and therefore I would recommend giving it a miss.
Sachin Kumar
Image Source [http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/John-Carter-vs.-White-Ape.jpg]
