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Movie Review |
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Lynn
Collins as the sword-wielding,
butt-kicking Dejah Thoris from the John
Carter
movie In this, the 100th anniversary of
the first publication of Edgar Rice
Burroughs' "Mars Series" of stories and
novels, Disney released the John Carter
movie on March 9, 2012. The following
review does contain movie spoilers,
but, as the spoilers are like a
green-skinned, four-armed, 15-ft. tall
Thark or Warhoon, you will notice the
spoiler alert before you approach
them. I first encountered the John
Carter/Mars/Barsoom books by Edgar Rice
Burroughs through a series of paperback
books I read when I was a kid. My
father and grandfather had read them
(in hardback), much earlier, and
encouraged me to check out this
exciting science-fiction series. The
Mars books were action-packed, filled
with strange aliens, endangered
princesses, and horrible monsters that
always seemed to be in the way of our
hero, John Carter, and his gigantic,
green-skinned friend, Tars Tarkas. When
I first heard that Disney was making a
feature film based on the Mars books, I
was both excited and worried. Why
worried? Well, sometimes when an
established story or character gets the
"Disney Treatment," something vital is
lost. Also, as a fan of the original
stories, I worried that in adapting it
for the big screen, the writers and the
director would think they could improve
on the "original source code" of the
Burroughs books, thereby totally
screwing things up. These concerns entered my head as I
sat down for a 9:30 PM showing of
John Carter in the local
multiplex with a collection of fellow
geeks to check out the action. My
worries immediately shot up as I saw
that the opening sequence of the film
had no recognizable corollary to
anything from the first Mars book.
(BTW: I decided to re-read the first
book in the series, "A Princess of
Mars," digitally, in preparation
for seeing the movie). Ok, it had air
ships from Helium and Zodanga, two of
the battling Martian city-states from
the books, but that was the only part I
recognized. The movie creators
obviously employed a plot device to
explain part of the back story, and
introduced some, ah, shall we say, new
characters and technology that I did
not recognize from A Princess of
Mars. (Possible Spoiler: The
"new character," or at least the
Martian "race" he belongs to, does
appear in second book in the Mars
Series, though the movie version is
somewhat different than in the
novels). John
Carter Movie
Poster After the aforementioned opening
sequence, the movie settled into an
introduction of John Carter in 19th
Century America, as in the book, with a
few changes in the story, but nothing
that screamed of dire illogic or
Barsoomian blasphemy. (Intentionally
not giving too much away here, my dear
Spoiler-phobics). The manner in which our titular hero
is transported to Mars is different
from the book version, but in a way, it
makes more sense than the original
written version. Surprisingly, this
difference, while providing an
alternate explanation of John Carter's
arrival on Mars, is somewhat logical,
at least to those used to the
technological. When our hero arrives on Mars, a
rather humorous scene ensues in which
Carter, as a human from a world with a
more powerful gravitational pull, has
to re-learn how to walk. As in the
book, his denser Earth-born bones and
strong muscles enable him to leap great
distances. (Note: It is believed by
some that the original Superman's
ability to "leap tall building in a
single bound" originated with the
abilities of John Carter, who first
appeared in print some 27 years prior
to Superman's publication). As in the
books, Carter encounters Tars Tarkas
and the Green Men of Mars, is captured,
and then becomes a sort of hero among
the Tharks. The special effects and set
designs for the movie are very true to
the essence of the original story, as
are all the Barsoomian creatures John
Carter encounters in his travails. The battle scenes are exceptional,
from the air-ship combat between the
fleets of Helium and Zodanga, to the
ground combat involving the Green Men.
The cities of Zodanga and Helium are
well-designed, as are the costumes and
uniforms of the denizens of those
cities. The character of Dejah Thoris, who
is, literally, the Princess of Mars, is
very well-played by Lynn
Collins, who transforms the
literary character from a damsel in
distress stereotype to a sword-wielding
scientist-warrior who kicks butt with
the best of them. Being a Disney movie,
Dejah Thoris and other female
characters are more suitably clothed
than in the novels or in the comic
books. (In print, the female
Barsoomians are nearly naked,
especially in the cover art of Frank
Frazzetta). It should also be pointed
out, that as John Carter in some ways
was a precursor to Superman, Dejah
Thoris, at least as imagined by Frank
Frazzetta, served as a model for the
Princess Leia Slave-Girl costume from
Star Wars. John
Carter of Mars Art by Frank
Frazzetta An interesting side-note to the
movie, is that there appears to be some
allegory
related to Christian themes and
metaphors. I frankly did not notice
until I read an article on it the next
day, but then it seemed quite obvious.
At the end of the film, the movie title
appears, then part of it fades away,
leaving the initials of our hero, the
savior of Mars. Those letters, of
course, being JC. The article points
out the fact that (Spoiler
Alert), John Carter dies, is
placed into a tomb which can only be
opened from the inside, (supposedly),
and when the tomb is opened, the body
is gone. Then he appears again to
finish his work. Hmmm, I think I know
that story! As in many novels and
written works, inserting some type of
Christ allegory is a common literary
device. Overall, this was a fun movie to
see. The John Carter of the books is
recognizable in the John Carter of the
movie. The costumes, set designs,
characterizations, and special effects
are all very well-done. The acting by
Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins, along
with all the others, is solid. The
action scenes are good, and there are
several instances of humor sprinkled
throughout the move. The play on the
name of Carter's home state on Earth
(Virginia) is a well-written and
well-delivered running gag throughout
the film. I look forward to the
sequel. Movie
Review Summary: For
fans of the original Edgar Rice
Burroughs Mars books, the new John
Carter movie hews enough to the
literary source code to satisfy. And
the fight scenes are cool!
Rating: 4.5
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