John Carter (of Mars)

I went into the film not expecting too much given the varying reviews and my impression from trailers.

What a great movie. I just loved it. It had action, adventure, sense of wonder, and romance!




It follows a civil war captain named John Carter as he is recruited by the the local fort to help fight Apaches. His stellar war record makes him seem key to the local efforts.

While he was off doing heroic deeds in the Civil war, his family suffered and he has vowed not to take part in someone else's wars again. He wants to find gold and get rich and that is it.




As he is caught in a fight between soldiers and natives he rescues the man he had just fought to escape and they find safe temporary harbor in a cave. The cave is all John has been looking for and more. It is filled with gold and strange spider symbols. Out of nowhere, a man materializes and attacks John. John shoots him and grabs an amulet from the dying man who is muttering something in an unknown language.

Suddenly John is lying on his back in a very strange desert. Things only get stranger as he finds he can (after many stumbles and hard landings) jump very high and very long distances.

He comes upon a nest of hatching squalling eggs with bizarre green creatures coming forth. Unfortunately for John, the guardians of the eggs, the Tharks, arrive in all of their tall green four armed glory.




He becomes a pawn among these creatures who wish to use him to fight their enemies. John doesn't take to being recruited by these creatures any better than he liked being railroaded by the soldiers on earth.

Enter Deja Thoris, drop dead gorgeous, guns blazing from her amazing airship, swords ready when she is shot down. John can't help but go to her aid and soon they are fighting side by side.




This tale of a planet torn by strife plays out wonderfully. Grand battles, incredible feats of strength and daring leaps by our hero. The villains are almost likeable in some cases--I felt a bit sorry for Sab Than, also a pawn of sorts in the grand scheme of the calmly evil Therns.




I really liked having Edgar Rice Burroughs as Carter's nephew Ned frame the story. He was such a good kid, and well deserving of his uncle's fortune and trust.




The ending left plenty of room for a sequel, which I'd love to see asap.

See a good movie, get the good trailers! Tons of good upcoming trailers: Prometheus looks action packed, Madagascar 3!!!!!!!! You got to move it move it....and The Avengers looks just TOO GOOD.