This is not going to be a long review, there are some great reviews on here and I think they have said all I wanted and more. The thing to hold onto is that despite all the negative hype in the worldwide press, this is one heck of a great movie. I have no idea why any film studio would want to distance themselves from this film, it is fresh in a time when fresh is a very rare thing in the movies. Avatar managed it in heaps and so does John Carter. The story is grand and intriguing, the characters are solid and believable, and the CGI is so good you forget about it. This will become one of my favourite all time movies, it is up there amongst the very best of the genre.

Don't believe the hype.. this is a must see movie!!

The title character is a nasty and self-absorbed guy who is magically transported from the American Southwest in 1881 to Mars...yes Mars. Once there, he meets lots of strange creatures and is caught up in a huge war--a war orchestrated by some very odd bald guys (the Therns) who seem to get off on manipulating planets--though exactly why is rather vague. Can a mere human somehow change the tide of an entire planet...especially when it isn't his own?

"John Carter" made $170,000,000....yet lost SIGNIFICANT money. This alone should give you some idea why the movie just isn't very good. Despite having mostly unknown actors who probably cost very little to cast, the film cost a staggering $250,000,000! Why? Because it's ALL special effects...ALL. There apparently was no room for interesting characters, a coherent back story or fun. Rarely has a piece of entertainment been so non-entertaining! It appears as if the film is trying to be another Avatar..but without the substance or decent characters. All it had going for it was a nice ending but overall, a misguided and dull film from start to nearly finish. How could they have made it better? Not push so many characters into the film and stretch it out to more than one film--and allowing the characters to develop and have some substance. As it was, they came and went quickly and I just didn't care. Oh well,...at least I liked Woola the 'dog' and the Therns...now they were interesting characters! But they along with nice special effects aren't enough reason to see this movie.

Of course John Carter is a long way from flawless, but it is also not that bad but you wouldn't think so looking at its box office failure, its reputation and also how terribly marketed it was. Sure the plot is thin as ice in places with scenes that go on for far longer than they needed to, and it is also predictable and with the odd convoluted part, with the many logical lapses not helping in its favour. Particularly at the end, which gave off a sense that the film didn't know how to end itself. The script is uneven too, a fair bit of it is actually quite intelligently handled with some entertainment and suspense but there are other points where the dialogue does make one cringe and you do wish you learnt more about the characters and that the romance wasn't so disjointed and forced. John Carter however does look incredible, the backdrops and scenery are bursting with colour and detail and don't look fake at all and the special effects are equally impressive and not cartoony at all, they are at least well modelled and move easily. Michael Giaccino's music score is outstanding being full of bombastic energy and sweeping intensity, doing all that while fitting with the action and not swamping it. There is plenty of action and it is action that is a feast for the eyes and choreographically is very well-executed, the best of them dazzlingly so. Of the characters, the most enjoyable one was Woola, a very cute and very funny dog creature- the CGI for the character is very well done and some of the best of the film actually- that children and adults alike will take a shine to. Andrew Stanton, considering that his field is more in animation and that the crew for John Carter is so huge, had a very daunting task and does so bravely, though with the odd understandable occasion where he seemed out of sorts with the live actors. While the story may not be the greatest, John Carter shouldn't be taken too seriously, it was intended to be harmless family fun and is so and it has an earnest, old-fashioned approach that works and in keeping with the source material. The performances are not bad at all, Taylor Kitsch does start off for a while ill at ease and over-serious but once he relaxes he does make for a likable hero. Lynn Collins is both feisty and human, and the supporting cast all make an effort to make much of little with Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong(in a role that suits him to a tee) and Ciaron Hinds being the most successful. In conclusion, not flawless by any stretch of the imagination but far from a disaster either. 7/10 Bethany Cox