Rating: 4 Shurikens
The story of the nerdy teen-ager bitten by a radioactive spider, who gains spider-like abilities, is now in its second big-screen incarnation. This is a complete reboot of the story, starting with a backstory of Peter Parker's childhood, and how he came to live with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. The prelude shows Peter before he was orphaned, and how his father had been working on some very important scientific experiments. The actual results of the work were worth keeping secret, and a break-in at the Parker household causes his father and mother to flee.
They gather some important documents and drive to the home of Peter's Aunt May and Uncle Ben, played by Sally Fields and Martin Sheen. I am always impressed by some of the name actors that will appear in movies like this. Fields and Sheen deliver some fine acting, which helps the story long, seeing as how they are integral to the origin story as told in the 1960's comic series by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
After some tearful goodbyes, his parents leave, and are never seen again. The next thing we know, Peter, played by Andrew Garfield, is a high school student, dealing with the bullying of Flash Thompson, the quintessential bane of nerds' existences since time immemorial. Most of us nerds have fond memories of being pushed around by people of his sort, but I digress. Part of the story of Peter Parker is his reputation as a weakling and an egghead, and how he gains abilities which turn the tables on his tormentors. Garfield's biggest achievement prior to his brilliant debut as an action star was his portrayal of Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network.
This is also where we are introduced to Gwen Stacy, the original love interest from the comic books. Gwen Stacy is played by Emma Stone, who became a star in the movie Superbad, and also starred in Zombieland. Peter takes a drubbing sticking up for one of Flash's other victims, and Gwen notices him, even though he came out on the losing end of the exchange. The next time they meet is at the headquarters of Oscorp, which we will get to in a moment.
Peter finds a briefcase belonging to his father, and learns some facts about his father's research. He learns of a colleague of his father named Kurt Conners. He finds out that Dr. Conners, played by Rhys Ifans, works for Oscorp, so he pays a visit to the Oscorp building, and gains entrance through some subterfuge. Gwen is giving a tour to a bunch of interns, and Peter is among the group. Conners addresses the group of interns, and we learn he is a amputee who is trying to learn about tissue-regeneration in order to possibly regrow his right arm.
Peter decides to slip away from the group and do some investigating, and ends up in a research area where genetically-modified spiders are being used to create super-strong fibers for commercial use. Of course, this is where he gets the fateful spider bite which changes his life forever. After he discovers his new powers, and trying to figure out what has happened, he revisits Dr. Conners, and shares some of what his father had written in some notes stashed in the briefcase. Dr. Conners then becomes a human test subject of a new tissue-regenerating serum which causes him to become a giant lizard, also known as The Lizard.
In the original story from the comic book, Peter decides to make some money from his new abilities. He decides to try professional wrestling, and decides not to pursue a criminal who robs the promoter. The robber he refuses to apprehend ends up killing his Uncle Ben. The Toby McGuire Spider-man movies followed the origin narrative a little more closely here, but in this story, he fails to stop someone robbing a store clerk. The robber runs away, and minutes later Uncle Ben is dead. Trying to apprehend the killer of his uncle, he becomes the wise-cracking web-slinging hero we all know and love.
As he discovers his new abilities, he develops his Spider-Man persona, designs his costume and web shooters and starts his career as a crime-fighter. The police instantly take a disliking to his vigilante approach, and so they try to arrest him, although without much success. Gwen takes Peter to her home for dinner, where Peter meets her father, Captain George Stacy. Captain Stacy is played by Denis Leary, who voices Diego, the saber tooth tiger in the Ice Age movies.
After dinner, Peter is on the balcony with Gwen, becoming very close in a romantic way, when Captain Stacy is called away for an emergency concerning a giant rampaging lizard. Peter jumps off the balcony and swings into action. It is interesting to note that when Peter arrived at Gwen's house, he had his backpack with him. Then, they have dinner, but he doesn't have his backpack with him. After dinner, Peter and Gwen go to the Balcony, and Peter is still without his backpack. He doesn't have it with him when he leaps from the balcony. Somewhere along the way to the lizard emergency, he pulls off his backpack and changes into his costume. I am writing this before checking to see if anyone else has noticed it, just to make sure I get proper credit.
The rest of the movie is loaded with action, although some aspects are overplayed, and some of the action scenes are jumpy and shift their camera angles much too quickly to see what is actually happening. There is a time when he is being pursued by a large number of unorganized street thugs, but in reality, street thugs would chicken out much more quickly. Otherwise, the movie is really good. It has lots of action, and lots of interaction. The love interests are well-played, and I would give high marks to Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.
I give this movie four Shurikens for good action, a coherent story, and some above-par acting. The casting is excellent, and the movie doesn't rely too heavily on special effects, although the web-swinging action is exhilarating. The Amazing Spider-man is great entertainment. A sequel is inevitable, probably involving The Green Goblin, so don't leave before the credits run.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Avengers
Rating: 5 Shurikens
This is truly a great movie. It is the kind of movie that makes me wonder, “who are the people who give out Academy Awards, and why don’t the give a movie like The Avengers ‘Best Picture’?” This movie is like the most sequel of all sequels, having no less than five movies that it is sequel to: The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Well, maybe not actually Iron Man, so four. But I digress….
Joss Whedon, a genius in his own right, directed. He is famous for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and television series, and the Angel spinoff. He brought us the sci-fi series Firefly and the movie Serenity, based on the Firefly TV series. He created the Dollhouse TV series, and wrote Alien Resurrection and the screenplay for Toy Story, a classic and one of my all-time favorite moves.
The top-billed actor is Robert Downey, Jr., in his third movie as Iron Man. He also played Sherlock Holmes in two recent films. Iron Man 3 is being produced even now, and will probably be out in 2013. Gwyneth Paltrow returns a Pepper Potts. Chris Hemsworth returns as Thor. Chris Evans reprises his role as Captain America, having also starred as The Human Torch inboth Fantastic Four movies. He was in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, as Lucas Lee and Jensen in The Losers, both comic book adaptations.
The movie begins at SHIELD headquarters, where scientists are working on a project involving a blue glowing cube of some unknown energy, under the watchful eye of Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson. He has his agent Hawkeye, played by Jeremy Renner, standing guard. Jackson is a versatile actor, one guy whose movies I always enjoy, such as Pulp Fiction. He played Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Nick Fury in the other Marvel movies, and was Octopus in The Spirit. His works are too numerous to mention. Jeremy Renner was crazy bomb squad guy in The Hurt Locker, and was also in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
The main villain of the movie is Loki, brilliantly portrayed by Tom Hiddleston. A relatively unknown actor before Thor, Hiddleston seems like he was born for the role. The scientist Professor Erik Selvig, played by Stellan Skarsgard, is in charge of studying the cube. Most of the characters in the movie are directly from the comic books, but Professor Selvig was created for Thor, the movie. Loki appears from nowhere and takes over his mind, and mind of Hawkeye, and he uses them to capture the cube and escape from SHIELD HQ. It is kind of funny watching a nigh-omnipotent demigod riding in the back of a pickup truck, but if you don’t think about it too carefully, you will be OK.
We are introduced to SHIELD Agent Marie Hill, who is played by Cobie Smulders. I knew I recognized her, but was at a loss until I learned that she is from the TV series How I Met Your Mother. She fit right in to a dramatic role, even though her TV show is a comedy series. The series is quite funny, in fact, and better, in my opinion, than that stupid show that purports to be a comedy about nerds like myself, The Big Bang Theory. I watched a couple of episodes of that, but found it strained and not really funny, while I can sit and watch How I Met Your Mother for hours at a time. But again, I digress…
The scene shifts to Black Widow, introduced in Iron Man 2, played by Scartlett Johansen. She is tied up to a chair and being interrogated by some Eastern European mobsters when her cell phone rings. The part that follows is retty darn entertaining to say the least. She is needed to bring in Bruce Banner, the human who becomes The Incredible Hulk if angered. Edward Norton didn’t reprise his role of Bruce Banner, but they managed to get a decent replacement in Mark Rufallo. Clark Gregg returns as Agent Phil Coulson, who had a role in Thor and was seen in Iron Man and Iron Man 2.
The action is quite intense at times, and the number of heroes and villains threatens to overwhelm the audience, but somehow this does not happen. The story moves easily from one scene to another. The tensions between the characters play off nicely, and the fight scenes between the members as their team is forming are classic. The Avengers clocks in at around two hours, twenty minutes, and is full of action from the start until the very end. There are clashes between Iron Man and Thor, Thor and Hulk, and Hawkeye and Black Widow. Nick Fury gets some action and a bigger part than any previous Marvel film. The damage to New York City is epic as alien creatures in league with Loki attempt to invade Earth. SHIELD’s venerable Helicarrier is impressive, brought well up to date from its original conception in the early Marvel comics.
As for future stories, Iron Man 3 is in production, expected to be out next year. Both Thor and Captain America have their own sequels announced and should be in theaters in the next couple of years. Apparently, there is some backstory involving Hawkeye and Black Widow, which hopefully will make it into some future movie. So far, I haven’t seen any rumors about a Hulk sequel or either of Black Widow or Hawkeye spinoffs, but would not be surprised to see them in the near future. I would go see any of those, even if they sucked as bad as Ang Lee’s Hulk. An Avengers sequel is also a pretty good bet, but probably won’t be seen until 2015.
The Avengers could easily be the best movie this year. It may end up being the top grossing movie of the whole year, and is setting records at the box office in America and around the world. The essence of the original comic books is captured, and I am one who actually read those comics way back when my parents thought they would waste your mind on useless fantasy and teachers would confiscate them. One of the hallmarks of the early Marvel comics was the propensity of the heroes themselves to crack wise, as it were. The Avengers has an amazing amount of humor that does not detract at all from the seriousness of the storyline. I highly recommend seeing it, and I intend to see it a cople of more times before it gets out of the theater. I give it a full 5 Shurikens for excellent story, awesome characterizations by the actors and spectacular special effects, and also for the wisecracking humor. Go see it.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
The Hunger Games
Rating: 3.5 Shurikens
What to say about The Hunger Games? I heard the movie was coming, based on a trilogy of novels, written by a woman, and aimed at a teenage audience, about a post-apocalyptic future. It seems that the central government of the country that rises from the ashes of America, after rising oceans and natural disasters, has to put a revolution down by force. The country is then named Panem, and the twelve Districts become basically enslaved colonies of the Capital. All of the efforts of their labors are taken, and they are allowed to keep only enough to subsist. All the other resources are sent to the capital, and if there is anything left, it goes to the Districts. There was a thirteenth district, but it was reportedly eradicated as an example to the others.
The Hunger Games are staged annually, and each of the twelve Districts has to volunteer two young people between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, to fight in an arena which is based on a new and original design each year. But wait, there's more. The district that produces the winning contestant earns rewards for their entire district. But even that is not all: There can be only one winner, and all the others must die at the hands of each other. Only one can walk out alive.
The story is about one girl, Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to take the place of her little sister, who just turned thirteen and had the bad luck for her name to be drawn from the names of all the teenagers in District Twelve. Katniss has a lot of experience hunting with a bow and arrows, even though it is illegal to go out into the wilderness to hunt. She has been quite successful and has a real talent with the bow, a lot like Robin Hood or Hawkeye. The books are written in the first person, essentially from the point of view of the girl herself.
This is pretty heavy stuff. I quickly obtained each book in the trilogy, and I found the first book fairly entertaining, the second book was better, but by the time I was finished with the third book, I was tired of the first-person narrative. It was hard for the author to keep the heroine involved in the complicated storylines resulting from tying up all of the loose ends created in the second book.
The movie follows the book quite closely, although some details were changed to allow a shortening of the story. Some other details were omitted completely, and of course, as with all book adaptation movies, you lose a lot of the character interactions and nuances, especially if you read the book first. In the case of The Hunger Games, it remained entertaining in spite of the abridgements. I think that the enjoyment of the movie would be enhanced by reading the book, otherwise you would have little idea what is actually going on.
Katniss is played by Jennifer Lawrence, who played Mystique in X-Men First Class, and is expected to be in the same role in the sequel due in a couple of years. She will also be in the Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire, which is the title of the second book. This probably means that there will be a third, since the second movie is expected next year. This particular series will be best exploited quickly, lest the readers all grow up and forget about it.
Katniss has a close friend, who is her hunting partner, named Gale Hawthorn, who is played by Liam Hemsworth. Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor in Thor and The Avengers, is the older brother of Liam. Anyway, Gale and Katniss are good friends, and you can just tell there is a spark between them. This relationship is not well-developed in the books, and even though you almost expect Katniss and Gale to go into the arena together, it isn't happening. Peeta Mellark, the Baker's son, is picked as the boy, and the obligatory love triangle is formed. Peeta is played by Josh Hutcherson, who was in Journey to the Center of the Earth alongside Brendan Fraser, and its sequel Journey 2: The Lost Island. In my opinion, the casting for Peeta was unfortunate, as Hutcherson is a little boyish-looking, and doesn't present a serious heroic appearance, but that is just My Opinion. He will return in Catching Fire, as will Liam Hemsworth.
The story unfolds as the drawing of names takes place, and soon the contestants are on a train to the Capital, where they meet one of very few winners from their own district, Haymitch Abernathy, played by Woody Harrelson. Haymitch is obligated to be the mentor of contestants from his district, and his help is important to Katniss and Peeta. When they arrive at the capital, they are assigned a wardrobe artist, Cinna, played by Lenny Kravitz, the rock musician. Seneca Crane is the leader of the team which designs the games, played by Wes Bently, a very capable villainous actor who played Blackheart in Marvel's Ghost Rider. President Snow is played by the venerable Donald Sutherland, who has numerous movies to his credit.
The outcome of the movie is highly predictable, especially if you read the books. The target audience has mostly read the books, so they are probably not surprised at all. The acting is fine, but the story is weak in places, and you can see the actors trying to appear as if they are making some kind of sense in their dialog. Part of the difference between the movie and the book is the whole first-person narrative thing. It doesn't translate as well to the screen since all through the book you are in her head the whole time, and the movie is mostly viewed from the outside in.
I wasn't too thrilled with the movie. I am happy that the woman who wrote the books has seen them really take off and make her tons of money plus being immortalized in movies. I love a capitalist success story. Other than that, I would recommend waiting for the DVD or Blu-Ray or just get it on demand. The special effects are good, but the story somewhat weak, and some of the characters are also kind of poorly acted, and even the star seems unconvinced of things which should be core values for her. I won't say any more, you have to see it for yourself. I give it 3.5 Shurikens.
What to say about The Hunger Games? I heard the movie was coming, based on a trilogy of novels, written by a woman, and aimed at a teenage audience, about a post-apocalyptic future. It seems that the central government of the country that rises from the ashes of America, after rising oceans and natural disasters, has to put a revolution down by force. The country is then named Panem, and the twelve Districts become basically enslaved colonies of the Capital. All of the efforts of their labors are taken, and they are allowed to keep only enough to subsist. All the other resources are sent to the capital, and if there is anything left, it goes to the Districts. There was a thirteenth district, but it was reportedly eradicated as an example to the others.
The Hunger Games are staged annually, and each of the twelve Districts has to volunteer two young people between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, to fight in an arena which is based on a new and original design each year. But wait, there's more. The district that produces the winning contestant earns rewards for their entire district. But even that is not all: There can be only one winner, and all the others must die at the hands of each other. Only one can walk out alive.
The story is about one girl, Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to take the place of her little sister, who just turned thirteen and had the bad luck for her name to be drawn from the names of all the teenagers in District Twelve. Katniss has a lot of experience hunting with a bow and arrows, even though it is illegal to go out into the wilderness to hunt. She has been quite successful and has a real talent with the bow, a lot like Robin Hood or Hawkeye. The books are written in the first person, essentially from the point of view of the girl herself.
This is pretty heavy stuff. I quickly obtained each book in the trilogy, and I found the first book fairly entertaining, the second book was better, but by the time I was finished with the third book, I was tired of the first-person narrative. It was hard for the author to keep the heroine involved in the complicated storylines resulting from tying up all of the loose ends created in the second book.
The movie follows the book quite closely, although some details were changed to allow a shortening of the story. Some other details were omitted completely, and of course, as with all book adaptation movies, you lose a lot of the character interactions and nuances, especially if you read the book first. In the case of The Hunger Games, it remained entertaining in spite of the abridgements. I think that the enjoyment of the movie would be enhanced by reading the book, otherwise you would have little idea what is actually going on.
Katniss is played by Jennifer Lawrence, who played Mystique in X-Men First Class, and is expected to be in the same role in the sequel due in a couple of years. She will also be in the Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire, which is the title of the second book. This probably means that there will be a third, since the second movie is expected next year. This particular series will be best exploited quickly, lest the readers all grow up and forget about it.
Katniss has a close friend, who is her hunting partner, named Gale Hawthorn, who is played by Liam Hemsworth. Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor in Thor and The Avengers, is the older brother of Liam. Anyway, Gale and Katniss are good friends, and you can just tell there is a spark between them. This relationship is not well-developed in the books, and even though you almost expect Katniss and Gale to go into the arena together, it isn't happening. Peeta Mellark, the Baker's son, is picked as the boy, and the obligatory love triangle is formed. Peeta is played by Josh Hutcherson, who was in Journey to the Center of the Earth alongside Brendan Fraser, and its sequel Journey 2: The Lost Island. In my opinion, the casting for Peeta was unfortunate, as Hutcherson is a little boyish-looking, and doesn't present a serious heroic appearance, but that is just My Opinion. He will return in Catching Fire, as will Liam Hemsworth.
The story unfolds as the drawing of names takes place, and soon the contestants are on a train to the Capital, where they meet one of very few winners from their own district, Haymitch Abernathy, played by Woody Harrelson. Haymitch is obligated to be the mentor of contestants from his district, and his help is important to Katniss and Peeta. When they arrive at the capital, they are assigned a wardrobe artist, Cinna, played by Lenny Kravitz, the rock musician. Seneca Crane is the leader of the team which designs the games, played by Wes Bently, a very capable villainous actor who played Blackheart in Marvel's Ghost Rider. President Snow is played by the venerable Donald Sutherland, who has numerous movies to his credit.
The outcome of the movie is highly predictable, especially if you read the books. The target audience has mostly read the books, so they are probably not surprised at all. The acting is fine, but the story is weak in places, and you can see the actors trying to appear as if they are making some kind of sense in their dialog. Part of the difference between the movie and the book is the whole first-person narrative thing. It doesn't translate as well to the screen since all through the book you are in her head the whole time, and the movie is mostly viewed from the outside in.
I wasn't too thrilled with the movie. I am happy that the woman who wrote the books has seen them really take off and make her tons of money plus being immortalized in movies. I love a capitalist success story. Other than that, I would recommend waiting for the DVD or Blu-Ray or just get it on demand. The special effects are good, but the story somewhat weak, and some of the characters are also kind of poorly acted, and even the star seems unconvinced of things which should be core values for her. I won't say any more, you have to see it for yourself. I give it 3.5 Shurikens.
John Carter
Rating: 4 1/2 Shurikens
Disney reportedly spent 250 million dollars on this adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs classic, John Carter. Burroughs was the author of the original Tarzan books, which spawned numerous movies, comic books, paperbacks, a TV show, and even a Disney cartoon. John Carter was the subject of some science-fiction fantasy novels, but I remember it most from the comic book adaptation done by Marvel in the 70's. When I heard it was coming, I had to go see it.
John Carter is an entertaining story, certainly worth the amount of money Disney spent on it. Carter, played by Taylor Kitsch, is a civil war veteran who, while searching for gold, finds himself on Mars. At the time when he arrives, Mars is inhabited by several races of beings: Humanoids, very much like humans, make up two factions warring for control of the planet, while a monstrous race of twelve-foot savage creatures called Tharks eke out an existence of there own on the barren world. Not surprisingly, Mars is portrayed as a desert planet. The politics are complicated by a third race, the Thern, very human, but also somewhat supernatural and also immortal. This third race seems to enjoy fomenting conflict between the human factions, for reasons unknown.
The main romantic interest is a beautiful woman named Dejah Thoris, played by Lynn Collins, who was in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as Kayla Silverfox. Thoris has discovered some sort of energy source, which is used by the opposing human faction, the Zodanga, to cause death and destruction on her side, known as Helium. Nobody will listen to her, because she has been promised to the enemy leader as a tribute to end the war, and since Helium is mostly losing the war, her own father is willing to marry her off and surrender.
The movie begins near the end, with Carter evading someone in the rain, as he gets in touch with his lawyers and his relative, Edgar Rice Burroughs. It seems he has died and left Edgar in charge of his estate. The journal he left tells the whole story of how he was searching for gold in the Indian territories of the Old West, but the Army is truying to press him into service to help quell Indian uprisings. He refuses to join, and is jailed, but escapes, and kidnaps the Army Captain who commands the troops in the area.
While fleeing the Army, with his captive, he discovers the cave he has been looking for. Inside there is gold, but a strange being appears, and not expecting to see anyone, attacks Carter with a knife. Carter is too fast, and kills the stranger with his gun. The stranger drops a blue glowing amulet. If you haven't guessed already, this is the way he gets to Mars.
When he arrives, he discovers that he can jump really high, and is also quite strong. The difference in gravity apparently gives him quite a bit of strength relative to the natives of Mars. He meets the Tharks first, who he makes friends with, as he impresses them with his abilities. At first, he is clumsy and quite comical. Soon, he is invited into their community.
There is quite a bit of interpersonal drama between the different Tharks, which helps make the movie interesting from the beginning. Carter starts out on the right side, but his lack of understanding causes some difficulty, and he comes out on the wrong side later on. A huge dog-like creature, which is extremely fast and a pet of the Tharks, takes a liking to Carter, and turns up at different times to add some humor to the story.
Tars Tarkus is the leader of the Tharks, and is played by Willem Dafoe, who is probably best known for his role in the Spider-Man trilogy of the early 21st century, playing Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. Sola is the Thark that Carter is given to, played by Samantha Morton, who played the precog Agatha in Minority Report. Thomas Hayden Church, who played Sandman in Spiderman 3 is Tal Hajus, the next leader of the Tharks, also quite anxious to take over. The Tharks are all twelve feet tall, and have four arms, so there is a lot of computer-generated content, and the actors are not that easy to recognize.
At some point, he encounters the warring factions, as the Zodanga are attacking the forces of Helium. He gets involved in the battle, and meets Dejah Thoris for the first time. The people of Mars, which they call Barsoom, have flying ships as transportation. She falls from one, as they are battling, and Carter rescues her as she is falling.
Her father is ready to make peace by marrying her off, and she is trying to rally the troops on her side to keep fighting. Meanwhile, the Thern known as Matai Shang, has been helping in the war effort be giving the Zodangans access to a secret technology to use as a weapon. The Thern are pushing for the marriage of the Zodanga leader to Dejah Thoris, coinciding with an eclipse of Mars' 2 moons. Matai Shang is played by Mark Strong, who has been in quite a few good movies, such as Kick Ass, Green Lantern, and Sherlock Holms. Most of the time he is a villain, and he is a good one.
John Carter has a lot of the excitement of the Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace. The Barsoomian airships are much like the speeder races, and the Tharks are quite like Jar Jar Binks, but John Carter does so much better by not making the Tharks completely ridiculous. The dog creature is aimed straight at little kids, and the rest is pure sci-fi, with the talent of a great writer of nearly a century ago.All in all, it is a great package. Long, at over 2 hours, epic, with lots of action, and even some really interesting plot twists near the end, I give it 4.5 Shurikens.
Disney reportedly spent 250 million dollars on this adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs classic, John Carter. Burroughs was the author of the original Tarzan books, which spawned numerous movies, comic books, paperbacks, a TV show, and even a Disney cartoon. John Carter was the subject of some science-fiction fantasy novels, but I remember it most from the comic book adaptation done by Marvel in the 70's. When I heard it was coming, I had to go see it.
John Carter is an entertaining story, certainly worth the amount of money Disney spent on it. Carter, played by Taylor Kitsch, is a civil war veteran who, while searching for gold, finds himself on Mars. At the time when he arrives, Mars is inhabited by several races of beings: Humanoids, very much like humans, make up two factions warring for control of the planet, while a monstrous race of twelve-foot savage creatures called Tharks eke out an existence of there own on the barren world. Not surprisingly, Mars is portrayed as a desert planet. The politics are complicated by a third race, the Thern, very human, but also somewhat supernatural and also immortal. This third race seems to enjoy fomenting conflict between the human factions, for reasons unknown.
The main romantic interest is a beautiful woman named Dejah Thoris, played by Lynn Collins, who was in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as Kayla Silverfox. Thoris has discovered some sort of energy source, which is used by the opposing human faction, the Zodanga, to cause death and destruction on her side, known as Helium. Nobody will listen to her, because she has been promised to the enemy leader as a tribute to end the war, and since Helium is mostly losing the war, her own father is willing to marry her off and surrender.
The movie begins near the end, with Carter evading someone in the rain, as he gets in touch with his lawyers and his relative, Edgar Rice Burroughs. It seems he has died and left Edgar in charge of his estate. The journal he left tells the whole story of how he was searching for gold in the Indian territories of the Old West, but the Army is truying to press him into service to help quell Indian uprisings. He refuses to join, and is jailed, but escapes, and kidnaps the Army Captain who commands the troops in the area.
While fleeing the Army, with his captive, he discovers the cave he has been looking for. Inside there is gold, but a strange being appears, and not expecting to see anyone, attacks Carter with a knife. Carter is too fast, and kills the stranger with his gun. The stranger drops a blue glowing amulet. If you haven't guessed already, this is the way he gets to Mars.
When he arrives, he discovers that he can jump really high, and is also quite strong. The difference in gravity apparently gives him quite a bit of strength relative to the natives of Mars. He meets the Tharks first, who he makes friends with, as he impresses them with his abilities. At first, he is clumsy and quite comical. Soon, he is invited into their community.
There is quite a bit of interpersonal drama between the different Tharks, which helps make the movie interesting from the beginning. Carter starts out on the right side, but his lack of understanding causes some difficulty, and he comes out on the wrong side later on. A huge dog-like creature, which is extremely fast and a pet of the Tharks, takes a liking to Carter, and turns up at different times to add some humor to the story.
Tars Tarkus is the leader of the Tharks, and is played by Willem Dafoe, who is probably best known for his role in the Spider-Man trilogy of the early 21st century, playing Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. Sola is the Thark that Carter is given to, played by Samantha Morton, who played the precog Agatha in Minority Report. Thomas Hayden Church, who played Sandman in Spiderman 3 is Tal Hajus, the next leader of the Tharks, also quite anxious to take over. The Tharks are all twelve feet tall, and have four arms, so there is a lot of computer-generated content, and the actors are not that easy to recognize.
At some point, he encounters the warring factions, as the Zodanga are attacking the forces of Helium. He gets involved in the battle, and meets Dejah Thoris for the first time. The people of Mars, which they call Barsoom, have flying ships as transportation. She falls from one, as they are battling, and Carter rescues her as she is falling.
Her father is ready to make peace by marrying her off, and she is trying to rally the troops on her side to keep fighting. Meanwhile, the Thern known as Matai Shang, has been helping in the war effort be giving the Zodangans access to a secret technology to use as a weapon. The Thern are pushing for the marriage of the Zodanga leader to Dejah Thoris, coinciding with an eclipse of Mars' 2 moons. Matai Shang is played by Mark Strong, who has been in quite a few good movies, such as Kick Ass, Green Lantern, and Sherlock Holms. Most of the time he is a villain, and he is a good one.
John Carter has a lot of the excitement of the Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace. The Barsoomian airships are much like the speeder races, and the Tharks are quite like Jar Jar Binks, but John Carter does so much better by not making the Tharks completely ridiculous. The dog creature is aimed straight at little kids, and the rest is pure sci-fi, with the talent of a great writer of nearly a century ago.All in all, it is a great package. Long, at over 2 hours, epic, with lots of action, and even some really interesting plot twists near the end, I give it 4.5 Shurikens.
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