Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong and Ciaran Hinds
Disney’s newest high budget 3D film “John Carter,” named after the main character (Taylor Kitsch), is a spectacular story full of action and adventure. Set in the 1880s, the film follows Carter, a former member of the Confederate Calvary, in search of gold in the Arizona territory. He comes across a cave full of gold on accident one day while being chased by the Arapahoe Indians who corner him in a cave. Luckily for him, the Indians saw the cave as sacred and leave him. What Carter didn’t realize was that the cave was used as a portal site for a mystical group called Therns. The Therns are a wizard-like people that posses a medallion of awesome power. This power allows them to change their appearance, jump from planet to planet and yield powerful and destructive weapons. By luck, Carter kills the mystic and takes the Thern’s medallion. As the Thern lay dying, he uttered a spell, which John repeats.
The medallion and spell transport John to Mars. The lower gravity and the strength he has from living on earth give amazing abilities. These abilities allow him to leap great distances and give him a strength that allows him to take on entire armies by himself. He soon discovers the different civilizations of Mars, which are locked in a civil war. By chance, he gets held captive along side Dejah Thoris, the princess one of these nations who is determined to save her people. As the movie progresses, it becomes evident that to get back to earth John needs Dejah’s help, and Dejah needs John’s help to save her nation.
The movie, although recently in theatres, is nothing new. Almost 100 years ago, Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote a science fiction book called “The Princess of Mars.” This book influenced science fiction for years to come, inspiring huge box office hits like “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” and “Avatar.” After a week at the box office, the movie is not performing as well as expected. With a $250 million dollar budget the executives at Disney must have expected “Avatar” or “Star Wars”-like figures to rush in.
“John Carter” is a great movie. The 3D, acting and cinematography are fantastic. The only setback is the plot, which is confusing at times and tries to do too much. The movie does well to help us understand John Carter but doesn’t do well in helping us understand others. Although not very noticeable or boring, there are scenes that don’t add to the plot. These flaws don’t make the movie bad, it just held the movie back from being the blockbuster it was hyped up to be.