John Carter Hot

Best left on the shelf. John Carter is about a man getting transported and tied up in a civil war on Mars. The amazing thing about John Carter is how it has the infrastructure of an instant classic. The problem is that not so much the story (which feels pretty predictable), but rather in the dialogue. Considering that the source material is a century old and most of its explanations for everything were pretty whimsical, so because modern audiences don't go for "just cause" anymore they decided to insert a bunch of explanations for everything or least they tried to. Carter get's hampered down with confusing explanations that only serve to make the audience more lost than actually help and most of the other dialogue just comes off as a bit sappy. It also doesn't help that everyone else seems like more a more interesting character than Carter himself who come as Kitch-y if you will. Its unfortunate because their are some seriously amazing all out action scenes.

Flawed but not crappy, JOHN CARTER is a fun and interesting sci-fi movie that’s well worth seeing. I have to say it took me by surprise - my expectations for this movie weren’t very good.

JOHN CARTER is about a man from 1800’s Virginia, named John Carter, who finds himself on Mars. At first, he hopes to find a way to get home. But JOHN CARTER’s journey helps him to realize there may be something in this galaxy worth fighting for.

The movie is filled with interesting and fun story-lines and ideas. Too much of them, in fact. This is JOHN CARTER's best and worst qualities. There are so many things going on that it occasionally becomes hard to follow, but most of what happens is really cool.

As a lead character, JOHN CARTER is one of the most complex and great heroes I’ve seen in a while. He’s flawed and human, while still being tough and attractive. His backstory is interesting, and Taylor Kitsch brings him to life wonderfully. And John Carter isn’t the only great character in this - Dejah is a smart, sword wielding princess, Sola is a young girl learning to stick up for herself, and Tars Tarkus is a leader watching his country fall apart. Unfortunately, most of the other characters are two dimensional and cliche.

It’s hard to judge the visual effects, which is an important part of movies of this genre, because the projection of the film was so awful. Is it worth seeing in 3D? From my experience, it’s not. I wish I hadn’t. But it’s certainly worth seeing in general! JOHN CARTER is a pick!

When you see JOHN CARTER, it's hard not think of movies like STAR WARS and AVATAR. Apparently, it's because George Lucas and James Cameron the Edgar Rice Burroughs "John Carter of Mars" stories as their influence! Either way, what all three of these films do is bring a tremendous amount of imagination and creativity to storytelling -- and I think THAT's a great influence on kids.

JOHN CARTER is PG-13 and that's due to a handful of curse words of the milder variety and a action scenes that deliver more than a handful of violence. Most of the violence is to fantastical creatures who bleed blue blood...so it's perhaps not as impactful as violence to humans. Luckily, Disney put a 10-minute clip online -- if you're okay with this clip, you'll be okay with the rest of the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HaE5Zs8dAY

The most unsettling moments, though, are the brutal Thark race who brand their own as punishment, force them to fight giant "white apes" coliseum style and kick dogs. And, in JOHN CARTER, the Tharks are the good guys.

The sci-fi elements of creating an entirely new world means a lot of unfamiliar terminology is introduced. I overheard a group of 6 seventh-graders exiting the theater talking about how they found the movie confusing -- I was relieved to know I wasn't the only one.

JOHN CARTER fits in well with the catalog of PG-13 Disney films like PRINCE OF PERSIA and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN -- it's just a little over the line but is mostly okay for tweens and almost tweens. Ages 9 and up.