I listed a couple of other film titles before it, but John Carter turned out to be the first of the 2012 spring film offerings that I got to watch.
John Carter, along with The Hunger Games, are the early potential blockbuster films released this year. Partner that with the already sweltering temperatures in Manila, and I already feel like the summer film season has arrived a couple of months early.
John Carter is the film adaptation of A Princess of Mars, the first in the 11-volume Barsoom novel series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
It tells the story of John Carter, a former cavalry officer of the Confederate Army, who would later become a wealthy and eccentric adventure scholar. Ten years prior to his reported death, John Carter was a world weary war veteran trying to prospect for gold. While evading the pursuit of the 7th cavalry and local Indians, he ends up hiding out in a cave, where he engages in a scuffle and defeats a strange figure, who in his dying breath starts an incantation that activates his medallion. John Carter then finds himself in a strange and arid land, where his slightest movements turn into leaps and jumps of fantastically high proportions. He encounters and is taken in by the four armed Green Martian Tharks, led by Jeddak Tars Tarkas. Soon after, he meets Princess of Helium Dejah Thoris, and finds himself embroiled in a struggle between Helium and Zoldanga. The two Red Martian cities are in the midst of a thousand year war that would determine the ruling power of Barsoom, which John Carter would later learn is the planet that he had always known as Mars.
I've never read any of the Barsoom novels, but I've known of their influence in our pop culture. While not as popular as Edgar Rice Borroughs' other work, Tarzan, there have been many filmmakers and authors who claim the sci-fi series and its various themes to be a major source of inspiration.
The first live action film project by director Andrew Stanton, John Carter incorporates many of the successful elements that he utilized in his animated film projects Finding Nemo and Wall-E. There is a great sense of adventure, action and humor throughout the entire film, making it an extremely enjoyable popcorn film.
With its sci-fi themes and otherworldly experiences, I had already expected the adventure and action components. Both elements are handled well, with exhilarating fight scenes that are made impressive by the Barsoom technology and John Carter's very fortunate reaction to the planet's weaker gravity.
I also greatly enjoyed the humor that is deftly incorporated throughout the film, which is exhibited by the lone Earth human, members of the different alien race and that adorable alien dog Woola (by the way, I so want one). There's the Virginia incident, as well, which you have to watch the film to understand. I don't know why that cracks me up every time. I have also learned that a rap on the head is a universal sign for "that was stupid".
While Taylor Kitsch is the lead, it's the rest of the cast that brought out a lot of fangirl moments. The truth was I wasn't aware of the casting for the film prior to watching it, so I was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Ciaran Hinds as Jeddak Tardos Mors, James Purefoy as Kantos Kan, Dominic West as Jeddak Sab Than, and Mark Strong as Matai Shang. Add that to the rather short appearance by Bryan Cranston as Colonel Powell, and the voice acting of Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas, and I officially declare my love for the cast. I also have to give Lynn Collins props for making Dejah Thoris an extremely likeable and strong character.
With most people focusing on the upcoming The Hunger Games, I just hope that John Carter gets the chance it deserves to be seen by a lot of people.
This is what adaptations are supposed to be. I never expect page by page faithful adaptations, but the film versions should be able to stand on its own and engage people whether they know the source material or not. And I believe that John Carter was able to achieve that.
Though I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Taylor Kitsch again and not think of the word... Virginia. Yes, even when he plays a different character in this summer's Battleship.
Happy viewing!!Labels: Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Film, John Carter, Must-Watch, Sci-fi
