The Dork Review: John Carter

If you've been craving a rollicking sci-fi adventure flick in the vein of the original Star Wars, go see John Carter. My friends and I just finished watching it, and only one thing need be said:

It was fun.

This was the movie The Three Musketeers tried to be and failed miserably at. John Carter draws from its source material, the Barsoom books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and gives us a world on the brink of collapse with warring factions, princesses, four-armed barbarians, and weird yet loveable dog-like creatures.

Don't go into this flick expecting a serious drama or over the top comedy. There are humorous moments, but they are tied very well into the action and flow from who the characters naturally are. The dialogue is what you would expect from something based on pulp adventure stories, but in this movie it works.

 The best part of the movie for me was the princess. Aside from being gorgeous (which is kind of expected by default in this type of film) she wasn't just a damsel in distress. She knew how to use a sword and showed that onscreen. It's also mentioned that she's a scientist, or at least a scholar. So to sum up, we have a woman who's smart, fierce, talented, beautiful, and can be all of these things combined at the same time that she's a princess. She just doesn't stand around waiting for someone to save her and doesn't cower in the corner when the fighting starts. Excellent!

The only thing that stood out for me as a negative was I found Taylor Kitsch delivery a bit wooden. It works in this film as John Carter is a damaged veteran who doesn't like people much, so the woodenness could be explained by the fact he spends a great deal of time isolated from others before the beginning of this story. As I said, it's something I noticed and doesn't really detract from the enjoyment of this film.

I hope John Carter does well enough that more movies like it have a chance to get made. If you get a chance, go and see it.