So the first big summer movie is out, albeit in winter. Taking the 300 model of an early release, John Carter has hit in early March with the hope that by being released so far ahead of its big competitors like Avengers and Dark Knight Rises, John Carter will become at least a modest hit in a season where movies like it are rare. Did it work? And, more importantly, is the movie any good?
As far as the money goes, I read on Box Office Mojo that it's projected to come in behind The Lorax which isn't the kind of opening that a film hoping to start a franchise really needed. I had thought it was going to do better than that, as the theater I saw Carter in was pretty full. On the other hand it was also one of the smaller theaters at AMC Randhurst, and AMC are being real dicks about John Carter.
You see, the 3-D on John Carter is purported to be pretty bad. It's a post-production conversion, and as a general rule you want to avoid those. AMC appears to be aware of that, because they're only showing the 2-D version of the movie as a matinee in one tiny theater in the back. So what's a theater owner who wants to to charge $13 a pop for John Carter to do? Why make it as difficult as possible to see the 2-D version.
This cynical and annoying idea played out by them making it so the last time you could see a 2-D version of John Carter at my usual theater was 1pm. On a Saturday. The last time you could see it at any AMC theater was 4:40pm. So if you wanted to see John Carter on a Saturday night? Well, I hope you don't mind a crappier experience for $3 more! Or you do as I should have, and go to see it at, say, Arlington Theater which doesn't have 3-D capability and thus only shows their films in 2-D. Hell, if I'd been smart enough to go there, I'd have seen Carter on a bigger screen, to boot!
So the film's been a disappointment at the box office, and AMC are being jerks about how you have to see it. How's the film itself?
It was okay. I liked it. I'd see a sequel if there is one, though that now seems unlikely. The story is competently told, the action is acceptable, the vistas appropriately sweeping. Dejah Thoris, the love interest, is actually a more interesting character than John Carter himself is. As played by Lynn Collins, she's a princess, scientist, and action heroine, and even manages to show some emotional depth at various points in the story.
Sadly, the same isn't entirely true of the lead himself. Taylor Kitsch does a decent enough job playing the early movie's "John Carter, bitter war veteran out for himself." He can growl and look sad with reasonable skill. Unfortunately, once he's supposed to transition into "John Carter, redeemed hero" it all falls apart. Kitsch just isn't charismatic enough to play the inspiring hero. He never feels like the kind of man you'd ride a war rhino into a war against a walking city for. Give him a ride to the airport or let hm crash on your couch? Sure. Die in horrible battle for? Not so much.
Furthermore, while the hero's motivation is pretty clear, as is Dejah's, the villains of the piece aren't so lucky. All the bad guys want is power. Except the "power behind the throne" guy who has power and is unclear as to why he's sharing it with the principal villain.
So if the villains are unsatisfying and the hero kind of fades out in the second half of the film, what do you have? Well the giant, four-armed green Tharks who have been the main reason it's taken around a century to get this film made look pretty good. The other Martian creatures are impressive as well. Granted it's all obviously CGI, but that's just where we are these days.
So what have we got? The film's been out three days and change and I'm already seeing articles calling it a flop. So you're probably not getting any sequels to this one. The acting? Well the first half, maybe even first two thirds, is okay. Not great, but not bad. The last third, when Dejah is off screen being a damsel in distress while Carter is trying to become a Big Damn Hero is pretty dire, though. That leaves the story, which is kind of a mess, and the action. The action is pretty good, at least.
In the end, John Carter is gong to go down as a missed opportunity. With a more charismatic lead, a better script, and a better idea of how to make something feel really epic, this really could have been the start of a new movie franchise. Instead, I suspect it'll go down as another Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.
Too bad.
You see, the 3-D on John Carter is purported to be pretty bad. It's a post-production conversion, and as a general rule you want to avoid those. AMC appears to be aware of that, because they're only showing the 2-D version of the movie as a matinee in one tiny theater in the back. So what's a theater owner who wants to to charge $13 a pop for John Carter to do? Why make it as difficult as possible to see the 2-D version.
This cynical and annoying idea played out by them making it so the last time you could see a 2-D version of John Carter at my usual theater was 1pm. On a Saturday. The last time you could see it at any AMC theater was 4:40pm. So if you wanted to see John Carter on a Saturday night? Well, I hope you don't mind a crappier experience for $3 more! Or you do as I should have, and go to see it at, say, Arlington Theater which doesn't have 3-D capability and thus only shows their films in 2-D. Hell, if I'd been smart enough to go there, I'd have seen Carter on a bigger screen, to boot!
So the film's been a disappointment at the box office, and AMC are being jerks about how you have to see it. How's the film itself?
It was okay. I liked it. I'd see a sequel if there is one, though that now seems unlikely. The story is competently told, the action is acceptable, the vistas appropriately sweeping. Dejah Thoris, the love interest, is actually a more interesting character than John Carter himself is. As played by Lynn Collins, she's a princess, scientist, and action heroine, and even manages to show some emotional depth at various points in the story.
Sadly, the same isn't entirely true of the lead himself. Taylor Kitsch does a decent enough job playing the early movie's "John Carter, bitter war veteran out for himself." He can growl and look sad with reasonable skill. Unfortunately, once he's supposed to transition into "John Carter, redeemed hero" it all falls apart. Kitsch just isn't charismatic enough to play the inspiring hero. He never feels like the kind of man you'd ride a war rhino into a war against a walking city for. Give him a ride to the airport or let hm crash on your couch? Sure. Die in horrible battle for? Not so much.
Furthermore, while the hero's motivation is pretty clear, as is Dejah's, the villains of the piece aren't so lucky. All the bad guys want is power. Except the "power behind the throne" guy who has power and is unclear as to why he's sharing it with the principal villain.
So if the villains are unsatisfying and the hero kind of fades out in the second half of the film, what do you have? Well the giant, four-armed green Tharks who have been the main reason it's taken around a century to get this film made look pretty good. The other Martian creatures are impressive as well. Granted it's all obviously CGI, but that's just where we are these days.
So what have we got? The film's been out three days and change and I'm already seeing articles calling it a flop. So you're probably not getting any sequels to this one. The acting? Well the first half, maybe even first two thirds, is okay. Not great, but not bad. The last third, when Dejah is off screen being a damsel in distress while Carter is trying to become a Big Damn Hero is pretty dire, though. That leaves the story, which is kind of a mess, and the action. The action is pretty good, at least.
In the end, John Carter is gong to go down as a missed opportunity. With a more charismatic lead, a better script, and a better idea of how to make something feel really epic, this really could have been the start of a new movie franchise. Instead, I suspect it'll go down as another Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.
Too bad.
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