John Carter [2012]

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong & Dominic West
Directed by: Andrew Stanton

Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios
Release Date: March 2012
Running Time: 132 mins

Synopsis: When Civil War veteran John Carter mysteriously awakes on the surface of Mars — also called Barsoom — he little expects the adventure that awaits him. Carter reluctantly becomes embroiled in an epic conflict among the red planet’s inhabitants, including Tars Tarkas and Princess Dejah Thoris. As Barsoom is poised on the brink of collapse, war-weary Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that everyone’s fate is in his hands.

First written by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1911, A Princess of Mars and the subsequent Barsoom novels were influential examples of early American pulp science-fiction, notable for inspiring the planetary romance sub-genre. These fantastical adventures took place on the planet Mars’ surface but used elements from the western and sword-and-sorcery genres to create a unique blend of science and fantasy. An iconic milestone in the history of science-fiction literature and Burroughs’ own career, the novels and its lead character John Carter ended up being overshadowed by the immense popularity of Burroughs’ second novel, Tarzan of the Apes.

Multiple attempts had been made to adapt the Barsoom series to screen since the 1930s, but aside from a direct-to-DVD movie loosely based on the original story, these efforts languished in development hell. It wasn’t until Walt Disney Pictures began a concerted effort to adapt Burroughs’ work during the late-2000s that it began to take shape, passing through the hands of numerous directors before reaching Andrew Stanton, a Pixar director riding high on the successes of Finding Nemo and Wall-E. The end-result was the live-action film John Carter, which after losing a historic $255m, is considered the biggest box-office bomb of all-time.

With such a disastrous box office response, you’d expect John Carter to be a mess of a film – but I found it to be utterly marvellous. The film is a victim of the success of its source material as Burroughs’ Barsoom novels have been mined for content by other filmmakers over the decades, inspiring the likes of Star Wars and Avatar to the point where the original story now feels like a copy of those it influenced.

By faithfully recreating Burroughs’ work, even down to its original American Civil War setting, Stanton maintains the pulp sci-fi feel of the story but potentially scares away audiences who find that aesthetic to be dated. I, however, absolutely loved it – the film somehow feels like a classic 1980s fantasy adventure akin to The Never-Ending Story or Labyrinth, but with modern CGI special-effects instead of practical puppets. If it had been made a few decades earlier, I could see this being made by Jim Henson and becoming a beloved children’s classic. The story feels familiar, borrowing from the archetypal “stranger in strange land” trope in fiction – one that Burroughs later reused for Tarzan, but despite its age – over a hundred years old – there is a real sense of modernity to the story that stands out, especially in Stanton’s adaptation.

Taylor Kitsch stars as the titular John Carter, although if you squinted you could be forgiven for assuming it was a young Keanu Reeves instead. He manages to convey the same minimalistic acting style and ethereal charisma as his older lookalike, providing an understated lead role that frequently allows the bombastic special effects and action sequences to take centre-stage. Lynn Collins, another relative unknown, plays the female lead Dejah Thoris, the Princess of Mars from the novel’s title. With her CGI-enhanced bright-blue eyes she is a captivating sight and Collins ensures that she isn’t a typical damsel-in-distress by giving her a sense of agency and power alongside John Carter. Dominic West is well-cast as the war-hungry Sab Than, although the true villains of the piece are the mysterious Therns, led by a creepy shapeshifting Mark Strong.

The Tharks, a race of green-skinned alien barbarians, act as an independent faction in the war between Dejah Thoris’ city of Helium and the bloodthirsty city of Zodanga, and help introduce John Carter (and the audience) to the politics of Barsoom. Bearing a slight visual similarity to the Na’vi of Avatar, these huge 9ft-tall creatures are a nomadic troop preferring to live from the land than use the technologies of the other civilizations. Willem Dafoe voices the Thark leader Tars Tarkas, adding significant depth to the CGI-generated character and its conflicting loyalties to its clan and biological daughter. There are plenty of solid character moments sprinkled between the action set-pieces as Stanton gives the characters time to react to events and come to terms with their pasts. The only misstep is the lack of motivation and background on the otherworldly Therns, aside from them possessing a literal god complex.

With its source material acting as inspiration to countless science-fiction movies over the years, it is only fair that John Carter borrows something back. There are hints of Conan the Barbarian, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars and Avatar throughout the film as director Andrew Stanton reaches far back into the well of 1980s sci-fi nostalgia to recreate the epic adventures of his own adolescence. Rooted in the past, despite its penchant for cutting-edge CGI graphics, John Carter harkens back to a simpler time in sci-fi cinema when a good original story was worth more than the latest sequel or franchise. Ultimately, the film was considered a financial disaster, but all of the ingredients to an all-time classic were there on the screen – it was just bad marketing and external factors that caused the film to bomb so dramatically. Nestled amongst the various Marvel and Star Wars films on Disney+, John Carter is a little curiosity that offers a big reward once watched. Ignore the critics (except me) and experience the film for yourself, free from the preconceptions surrounding its calamitous release.

Coming seriously close to earning a full five-stars, John Carter is one of the most enjoyable films I’ve seen in the last few years, and managed to invoke the same sense of joy and wonder that I had when I watched Star Wars for the first time, back when it was re-released in cinemas in 1997.