Does this sound familiar? You’re on the playground where you spend most of your days. You’re chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool… wait.. no. That’s not right. This isn’t the 90’s. Let me start again. You’re hanging out with your friends and something reminds you of a movie so you bring it up and lo and behold none of them have seen it and you can’t believe it because, come on! It’s a great movie! That sounds familiar, right? Of course it does! It happens to everyone. So my plan for this blog series is to review movies that may have slipped under your radar. Something you can watch on a lazy Sunday or on a sick day. Something that Netflix or Amazon Prime may have or even something you can buy used or borrow from a friend. Not all of these movies are going to be up your alley or maybe you have even seen them before. Either way, consider giving my Movie Night movies a watch, or rewatch. Allow me to start with a favorite of mine from 2012. This movie had been doomed before it was released thanks to terrible trailers and overall awful marketing. An executive was even fired because of this movie. This, interestingly, was a Disney movie based on a book from 1917 by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The movie is…
John Carter is a space fantasy movie about a man named… wait for it… John Carter who is transported to Mars and finds himself stuck in the middle of a battle between warring peoples. The fate of Mars, or Barsoom as the natives call it, hangs in the balance and John Carter has to grow as both a warrior and a person. It’s a familiar story with nothing new or challenging added to it and that’s okay, because I’m not claiming this is some life changing movie. Also, remember, it’s based off a book from 1917. So John Carter has a good reason to adhere to certain tropes. After all, the book helped create them.
You may be wondering something. “But Bill, you always go on and on about if a movie is fun or not, is John Carter fun?” Yes, yes it is. John Carter isn’t a bad movie despite the flop at the box office and the nay saying critics who are such tight asses that they could make diamonds out of coal. John Carter is a good movie that left me with a smile on my face. It’s a great mix of action, comedy, drama, romance, sci-fi, AND fantasy elements. There were impressive battle sequences, engaging and memorable characters, and while the plot was predictable at times, it still found ways to surprise me. The ending was wrapped up well enough to be a stand-alone movie even though it had potential to have multiple sequels. This is quite lucky as the movie’s poor performance in the theaters meant that Disney dropped that franchise. I’ve heard rumors of another company picking up the rights but my Google-fu couldn’t bring up any sources for that. Could have just been wishful thinking.
I urge that everyone give John Carter a chance. Taylor Kitsch is awesome as always. If you can’t remember who he is then think back to the Friday Night Lights TV show from 2006 to 2011. Lynn Collins (True Blood, Number 23) does a good job in her role as kick ass princess/love interest. Mark Strong is the bad guy, of course. Mark strong is almost always the bad guy. Just look at Sherlock Holmes (the first one with RDJ) and Kick-Ass. There’s a nice cameo from Bryan Cranston from his pre-Breaking Bad days which was a treat to see. There are others in the movie as well, but I don’t want bog you down with the full cast. John Carter had a fantastic ending which I didn’t see coming. It was slightly open ended too which brings me back to what I said above. Even though John Carter isn’t going to get the sequels it deserves, it’s fine the way it is. It’s easy to fill in the blanks with your own imagination or even read the books.
I hope my first ever Movie Night post has at least put John Carter on your radar. So the next time you have night at home and there’s nothing but lame crime dramas on the TV then give John Carter a watch. It’s well worth the two hours and twelve minutes of your time.
John Carter gets a 9 out of 11
Remember folks, you can always drop me a line at BilliamReviews@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments. Do you have any movies that fit the bill for a Movie Night post? Then hit me up.