John Carter (2012) - Highly entertaining popcorn science-fiction cinema for the whole family - 8/10 (17/03/12)

John Carter is a solid and entertaining science-fiction movie. It convinces with a good dose of visually stunning special effects for the movie theatres without being too visual and overwhelming as other recent blockbusters such as "Avatar".

Another strong point is the humour in this movie when John Carter first meets the Tharks or when he is strolling around with the giant alien dog that follows him everywhere. As these humorous parts are very strong, the movie should have even focused more on them.

A good point is the acting in the movie that fits well to this movie genre and creates some credible characters as the mysterious Therns, the courageous and suffering Sola or John Carter himself whose struggles are explained in the beginning of the movie and several well done flashbacks. In fact, the first and last moments of the movie perfectly close the circle and are very addicting as they don't play on Barsoom but in the late nineteenth century in the United States of America.

The movie also has some weaker parts. First of all, the story is overall rather predictable including the usual stranger in a strange land becoming a hero scenario. Of course, this movie is an adaption of parts of the three first Barsoom novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs that have been written almost one hundred years ago and have surely been quite original at their time. In fact, this movie makes me want to read these old classics one day. But the scenarists of the movie should have changed a couple and given these story a more modern, surprising and twisted touch. In fact, we have a weird letdown between a top notch production and an old school story. There are more negative things to say about the story. There are some plot holes of course but what I miss the most are some background informations. Why exactly was Sab Than chosen to be the most powerful person on the planet and obtains the special weapon of almost total destruction? Where do the Therns exactly come from and what are their purposes? What's the point of the ninth ray that Dejah Toris is about to discover? Many mysteries are left unexplained.

Another rather weak point are the fighting scenes that are only based on special effects and not truly impressing. The choreography of the battles is rather ordinary and not always logically elaborated. On one side, John Carter kills giant white Martian apes as well as the powerful and vicious Tal Hajus or a whole company of Therns and the Green Men of Warhoon by the sword, on the other side he heavily struggles in some battles and must be helped by a princess or some associates in the beginning and end of the movie.

In the end, the weaker points are not excessive and maybe more explanations will follow in the upcoming sequels if this movie is successful enough. What we have here are more than two hours of great entertainment with strong visual effects, sympathetic characters and a lot of action, passion and tension. Of course, this is the kind of movie that is produced by Disney and created for the whole family and might not please to those who expect a more brutal, complex or emotional story line but it's nevertheless a very enjoyable ride and I would definitely watch this movie again. Imagine a mixture of "Avatar", "Dune" and "Prince Of Persia" and you should quite know what you get delivered in here.