For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - John Carter
The Impression:
This weekend’s John Carter release signifies the
arrival of the blockbuster season in old Tinsel Town and
with it the hopes that this year’s stock of big, dumb,
explosion-heavy films will feature ti a touch more character
and intelligence. The presence of Pixar big-shot Andrew
Stanton (Wall-E) behind the camera shows promise, but
with this being his first trip to the rodeo it could be a
bit of a crap-shoot.
The Reality:
I really wanted to love John Carter. I wanted to
leave the theater aglow with the discovery of fresh,
talented voice in big-budget science fiction. I wanted to
head home bubbling over with praise for Taylor Kitsch and
Andrew Stanton and a whole new world of fantastic
possibility. For what’s it worth I believe that the minds
behind John Carter put forth the strongest effort
they y muster in crafting a film that melted my sci-fi
loving brain in to a gooey puddle, I just don’t think they
stuck the landing. John Carter is a satisfying,
expansive, world-building flick rooted in the
character-driven action beats of the 1980s and when it’s
firing on all pistons it’s damn near classic, but when it
loses itself in the crush of exposition and story, it feels
surprisingly dull. John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), an
adventurer and Civil War draft dodger has died, leaving his
nephew Edgar Rice Burroughs (Daryl Sabara) in charge of his
estate and ... his secret diary. Within that secret diary is
the story of a man teleported to a distant world called
Barsoom (Mars) and the dense hierarchical social structure
it holds. There’s Tharks (four-armed tribal people), Thurns,
red Martians, two warring city-states and little old John
Carter smack dab in the middle of it all. You’d think that
amongst all of this adequately doled out story Stanton and
crew would find time for some serious action, but I found
the film too heavy on character beats and too scant on the
bigger set pieces. Don’t get me wrong John Carter
features some doozies (the much publicized ape fight a
classic) but just not enough doozies. Perhaps it’s a
Stockholm Syndrome thing where I’ve grown so used to action
over character that this buffet of story and character seems
weak, but where John Carter succeeded in story, it
failed in action content. Let it be known thought that
Stanton is a skilled live action director, ably expanding
upon Burroughs pulpy world while maintaining the cosmo soap
opera his fans so fervently love.
The Lesson:
Sometimes I want my big budget action films to be a little
bit stupider. Maybe I’m just getting old and mushy in the
grey matter.
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