Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

John Carter (2012)

Directed by Andrew Stanton

Starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton

Author

Reminded me a lot of Avatar. A man, or more precisely a copy of a man, is whisked to another world filled with aliens, aliens who are tall and slender and athletic and tribal. In this world, he finds his purpose in life, and he finds love. Given the choice between staying where he is or returning home, he chooses to stay. In fact, I wonder how much of the story is faithful to the original novels and how much it has been “adapted” to fit an Avatar-like storyline. Perhaps it was Avatar that was the copy. Or perhaps their similarity is coincidental.

The John Carter mythology is obviously quite dense, and for someone who has not read the novels, there were times when I desperately tried to keep up with what was going on. But it held me.

Action and effects are pretty good. Stanton’s foray into live-action is a success.

Kitsch reminds me of a young Josh Brolin.

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