The initial box office returns from the States show that this gamble may not have been entirely successful financially. And that's actually rather a shame, because, despite being heavily dependant on modern special effects, John Carter is actually a rather entertaining movie in a slightly old-fashioned blockbuster kind of way. This shares more cinematic genes with the original Star Wars films than the more modern prequels and is all the better for it.
The story (once you get past the double framing device which only really pays dividends at the end) follows the titular hero as he is accidentally transported to Mars where the much lighter gravity gives him almost super-powers and he gets involved in the ongoing conflict between warring tribes. It's hardly ground-breaking stuff, but director Andrew Stanton brings at least some of the visual flair from his Pixar works and creates an exciting vision of life on Mars, but also some of the humour, making this a fun watch. Taylor Kitsch shows that he has potential as a leading man, even if he's not quite the finished article yet. Elsewhere Mark Strong does another pleasing bad-guy, Dominic West is still playing McNulty and James Purefoy is clearly enjoying himself too much, but the end result is a really rather enjoyable film.
Overall - 7/10 State of the art, but rather old-fashioned in feel makes for an entertaining watch.
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