Disney should be ashamed of themselves for so poorly marketing such a wonderful cinematic experience. Not to say it's flawless, the beginning prologue is unnecessary and too immediate for my taste, but the rest of the film is a fun adventure that deserved a better campaign.
I want to first complain by asking the Disney suits, did you really expect this film to open big in March? Your target audience, young people, are still in school and probably too busy finishing up the school year to even go to the movies. This would have been perfect for the Summer time. Oh, that's right, you'd rather put all your resources into that other film every one's already talking about, you know the one with superheroes, instead of selling a movie that only die hard sci-fi fans might recognize. When you think of it, this would have been the perfect change of pace in August after three big Superhero movies finish their assault on audiences. But I digress, let's go back to the marketing wizards at Disney. Why in the world would you change the title of your film to just a name when the book is called John Carter of Mars. Who would want to see a movie called John Carter? Most people saw that poster you created (which is as boring a poster as can be) and squinted, asking themselves, "Who?" At least having Mars in the title tells people that it's a science fiction story. Look at history. The most popular films in the last few decades have all been science fiction stories. Why avoid the most attractive element of the title? Even John Carter and the Princess of Mars would have been better. But Disney freaked out (probably because their last bomb, Mars Needs Moms). Then there's the trailer they cut. Who ever edited that trailer should never edit another trailer as long as they live, I don't care if they're a Led Zeppelin fan. Horrible! I'm all for keeping the plot under wraps a little but you should at least explain why a man is running around in a loin cloth capable of jumping higher than your typical person. Oh, and maybe this is where you could tell the audience that he's on Mars! Now sure the critics weren't too kind either but critics rarely cripple a film. If so we'd only have one Twilight film and Michael Bay would have stopping making movies after Pearl Harbor. If moved to a better time spot with a trailer that sold the idea that this is a romantic space opera directed by the guy who gave us WALL-E and co-written by the Pulitzer-prize winner Michael Chabon I can almost guarantee more people would have gone to see it. I mean I'm a huge Chabon fan and if I had known he was involved I'd probably have been there opening day. But the trailer didn't say any of this. It just showed a bunch of four-armed creatures and a guy in a loin cloth jumping around yelling about fighting for a cause that's never explained. Disney, you can only blame yourself for this disaster. Worse you ruined it for the rest of us because I would have loved to see Andrew Stanton and team return for a follow up.
Now that I got that off my chest, my take on the movie. As I stated in the beginning, this is a flawed film but a fun one regardless. But the Pixar brain trust blew it when it came to setting up the world of the story. As soon as the film opened to narration I cringed. Why not just start the film on Earth? All the exposition that you lay out in the beginning of the film is explained to John Carter later on. We don't need to hear this back story twice. Open with his nephew Ned going to his Estate and reading his journal. Then showing John being chased by Indians and going into that cave. Then he is teleported to a strange place and only later learns that he's on Mars. The audience will know he's on Mars because of the film's title (oh, that's right you changed that). I've watched the alternate beginning and it seems you were always on the wrong track. Oh well, this doesn't ruin the movie but it does clutter up the film's pacing. From here the film really turns on the charm and is a blast. Taylor Kitsch as Carter and Lynn Collins as Princess Thoris are great leads who are easy to root for. Sure the villains played by Dominic West and Mark Strong are kind of one dimensional but acceptable for this kind of high fantasy. I loved the air ships and the look of the production design. The Tharks are brilliant and if I had any complain is that more could have been done to distinguish them apart. But you know a movie's good when you've stopped noticing these things and focus on the events on screen. This is an entertaining film that shouldn't be missed by those who love these kind of stories, you know, people who liked Avatar, Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, pretty much everybody. It's disappointing that we're not going to get to see more of Mars. It was memorable and a fun ride. Grade: B+
Spoiler: Okay, I did have a problem at the end of the movie too. So John Carter fakes his death to trick the Thern following him to wait for Ned to open Carter's tomb so John can take the Thern's medallion. Can't the Thern's blue-gloved weapon blow up entire ships? Why not just blow a hole through Carter's tomb and get inside that way? Why wait for Ned to open the door? Then there's Mark Strong appearing before John Carter and sending him back to Earth. Why not just kill John Carter? Then you never have to worry about him coming back at all. Oh well, it's not a perfect film but it's certainly more entertaining than more successful films like Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean.
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