John Carter

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 9th March, 2012 (India)
Time : 132 minutes
Director & Co-Writer : Andrew Stanton; Co-writer : Mark Andrews (based on Edgar Rice Burroughs story ‘A Princess of Mars’); Music : Michael Giacchino
Starring : Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Dominic West, Ciarin Hinds, Daryl Sabara, William Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Thomas Haden Church, Mark Strong

John Carter. A caring, generous uncle. Feisty cavalry man. Renegade captain. Interplanetary traveller. Loner.

A battle between good and evil. Exotic creatures. Space travel. Rugged, breathtaking landscapes. Towering structures. A besieged princess seeking help. Gladitorial contests. A planet under threat. Gods seeking to run their writ. And a race that seems doomed.

There is a flatness to the film, none of the spark or awe while watching films like Star Wars or Avatar. A sameness, a feeling of déjà vu. Driven only partly by the slightly wooden, lead actor and the character he is given to play. Made up only partially by the charismatic Lynn Collins. Enlivened only partially by the awe-inspiring scenery. And a storyline, plot that comes across as very ordinary.

I wouldn’t rate the time I spent on this film badly spent. There is enough fantasy, sci-fi, romance, exotica to sustain. However, it somehow doesn’t come together in a harmonious whole.