John Carter (2012)

Directed by: Andrew Stanton | 132 minutes | action, adventure, fantasy, science fiction | Actors: Taylor Kitsch, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, Ciarán Hinds, Daryl Sabara, Willem Dafoe, James Purefoy, Dominic West, Lynn Collins, Polly Walker, Thomas Haden Church, Samantha Morton, Don Stark, Jonathan Hyde

It remains a mystery why films are named after their fictional protagonist. Anyone who is unfamiliar with the source material of ‘John Carter’ will not know where they step in, even though the original title ‘John Carter of Mars’ says so much more. After all, this is a film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ book that inspired so much science fiction that followed, it can almost be called the primordial space novel. The series about the hero of the war of independence in America who is teleported to Mars, dates back to the late 10’s of the last century. But because all the stories heavily influenced by this series have already been filmed, ‘John Carter’ feels like a hopeless cliché.

Disney has put a lot of effort into making the film a success. A huge amount of money was thrown at it and the successful Pixar director Andrew Stanton – known for ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Wall-E’ – was allowed to take the helm of the film. That the CGI would look very nice was therefore already known in advance, but the story, such a big problem with science fiction films, rattles on all sides. Stanton took Pixar writer Mark Andrews with him, but neither he nor novelist Michael Chabon could make a good whole of the characters, who are also played very thinly by Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins.

The film succeeds in its adventurous and action-packed character. ‘John Carter’ is a very entertaining bad movie. It ranks right up there with movies like ‘Waterworld’ and some ‘Star Wars’ prequels. As the ultimate in self-reflection, Disney arranged for the film to be released in 3D; the medium that is always used when so many aspects of a film are against the studios. It is a last possibility to make money from a project that can only suffer a loss due to the enormous budget – above 250 million dollars – but is also so poorly executed that it is only an extra share in the downward trend. spiral that the film will reach, before it gains more attention due to cult status.

Alternately, the 3D emphasizes the artificial whole of the film, and causes headaches, so that ‘John Carter’ in no way becomes the film Disney should have envisioned. It is to be hoped that director Stanton will once again devote himself to fine Pixar films; it’s something he’s having so much more success with.