Cinema Review: John Carter (2012)

Since I saw it about two weeks ago, John Carter has already gone down in the record books as one of the most costly flops of all time. That will therefore be its legacy, rather than the quality (or otherwise) of the film itself, which is the criteria by which I intend to judge it. Clearly greenlighted in the wake of Avatar's success, John Carter's story shares superficial similarities, primarily the central theme of a normal Earthling thrust into an alien world, who then learns to adapt to the new world's ways and cultures. Disney's hype machine have made sure to point out that Avatar was in fact one of many sci-fi stories inspired by the John Carter tale, which is nearly a hundred years old, its origins being Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars, first published as a novel in 1917. The film's original title was John Carter of Mars - infinitely better than the totally bland moniker we ended up with.

Unfortunately for the film, Burroughs' story proves to be a thorny and complicated one to iron out into a screenplay. There's also a certain weirdness and gobbledegook threshold that science fiction films can tolerate, which John Carter exceeds. There are just too many funny names and silly costumes to take it all seriously, which the film clearly wants you to do. (SF novels can tolerate more of these, which explains why Frank Herbert's Dune has so far defied successful adaptation.) Director Andrew Stanton doesn't help himself by launching straight into the otherworldly stuff with a Martian prologue which is completely misjudged. These planetary adventures require a gradual introduction to their strange worlds, to ease the audience in; exactly as James Cameron did with Avatar. It engenders greater suspension of disbelief and more acceptance of the alien sights to come.

John Carter therefore gets off on unsure footing, and the opening act's echoes of Cowboys and Aliens are also less than ideal. The time period is kept the same as the source, which means that John Carter is a veteran of the US civil war. The conflict proves to have many similarities with a concurrent war being played out on Mars - or Barsoom, as its inhabitants call it - that Carter inadvertently lands in the middle of. The Martian races comprise the entirely human-looking 'reds', two factions of whom are at war, and the green, four-armed Tharks, who strike certain Na'vi chords with their primitive Native American-esque culture. Carter's encounters with these various races form a far from straightforward narrative arc, which is a major problem, as the film lurches around without a whole lot of direction or structure for a lot of the time. Thankfully, Stanton's handling of Carter's Martian introduction is entertainingly playful, as he gets to grips with the low gravity and then is captured by the Tharks and transported to their village in a cart with their newborn babies.

As you'd expect of a film with a budget north of $250 million, the production values are extremely high, with very good (and extensive) CGI and some inventive art design. It's a mystery, however, quite why the filmmakers were happy for their 'Martian' desert to look quite so like an Earthbound one, complete with blue sky: it would have only taken some colour timing to give it the expected rusty red look.

Pixar supremo Stanton has assembled a strong, diverse cast for his first live action venture but some prove to be more suitable than others. Most eyecatching is Lynn Collins as the princess, who brings beauty, brains and real personality to a character who could have been cardboard. Taylor Kitsch proves to be a fine but forgettable leading man; he just doesn't quite possess the likeability or charm that the character requires, but commits himself well. Stanton recreates the Caesar/Antony dynamic from HBO's Rome by casting Ciaran Hinds and James Purefoy as a regent and his second in command, but both look a little uncomfortable in their rather outlandish costumes, while Dominic West seems completely lost. Mark Strong is little used as a shadowy puppetmaster type figure, and the actor really needs to rethink his roles: he's getting shoehorned into the bald villain part too often, and is becoming overexposed.

Although the script has many problems, Stanton is no slouch in the director's chair and brings plenty of invention, wit and epic ambition to proceedings which prevents the film from falling completely flat. The much-in-demand composer Michael Giacchino clearly relishes the epic canvas and produces some of his best work to date, crafting an appealing main theme that occasionally combines with some Planet of the Apes-style percussion. The script is not a complete failure, either: its best section is the ending, which throws in a clever twist and a satisfying denouement that doesn't scream sequel bait (even though it was intended as such). There's evidently plenty to like, then, even if the film as a whole cannot be considered a runaway success. Especially if you're a Disney accountant.



Summary
John Carter (of Mars) is too clunky for its own good, but wears its heart on its sleeve and manages some intermittently enthralling interplanetary adventuring.