Matt’sMovieReviews.net John Carter Review: “Epic in scope ….fun and thrilling old school blockbuster.”
Epic in scope and dynamic in imagery, John Carter is a fun and thrilling old school blockbuster that owes much to the superb direction of Andrew Stanton.
Before there were comic book heroes there were adventure novelists and one of the best was Edgar Rice Burroughs who is chiefly known for his 11 volume “Barsoom” series, which told the tale of Earth man John Carter’s adventures on Mars.
John Carter the movie is based on the first Barsoom book “Princess of Mars”. Like all beginnings of a franchise it is an origin story and if what director Andrew Stanton has done here is any indication, there are sure to be many sequels to follow.
Taylor Kitsch stars as John Carter, a civil war veteran whose search for a mysterious gold cave inadvertently leads to his mysterious transportation to Mars, where the change in atmosphere gives him super human strength and agility (naturally). Unknowingly John has escaped one civil war only to find himself in the middle of another, with various tribes and alien races at war for the right to rule Barsoom (the native word for Mars).