John Carter: Stunningly Effective

 

Author: marcvalenzuela from United States

9 March 2012

Hearing about this Disney film's story sparked my interest in seeing this right away! I finally did and overall, the characters, the setting, and the plot flowed seamlessly well together! It's like Disney's formula of "Star Wars" and "Avatar" meets "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time." 

 

So, the plot revolves around a Civil War veteran who is somehow transported to Barsoom (aka Mars), where he must help a princess and a colony succeed in a heated battle against another feuding colony.Director Andrew Stanton delivered well in this epic take of John Carter. Sure, star Taylor Kitsch seems like he's trying a little too hard as the lead guy, but it looks like he's heading toward the same path left behind by Jake Gyllenhaal for "Prince of Persia": serious character figure, yet sometimes able to show unintentional humor usually without noticing. Though not bad on either one's part! 

 

Since John Carter was conceived as a story back in 1912 by Edgar Rice Burroughs (of Tarzan fame), I have to say that this movie is certainly NOT a rip-off. A film like this deserves more credit than initially given! Epic action/adventure films like "Star Wars" and "Avatar" wouldn't exist today without these early roots! It pretty much sparked an influence on the sci-fi, action, adventure genre films that most audiences came to know decades later.

 

It looks like Stanton's following exactly what his fellow Pixar colleague Brad Bird had done with Tom Cruise in "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol," stepping up as director for once in live-action! Not bad for their first time.

 

I saw this at a preview screening in London.I never read any of the books so only had a vague synopsis of the story just from trailers which didn't really impress me much. Well, this turned out to be quite a blast. Its an enjoyable if very cheesy Sci-fi fantasy blockbuster. It has the spirit and energy of Flash Gordon including its own outrageously nonsensical but fun premise. It isn't as cheesy as that film but there is a definite lean towards it. The story is quite a novel mix of Planet of the Apes, Conan, Red Sonja, Avatar, Star Wars and Superman (yep this is a superhero movie too). We even have a western thrown in the mix at the beginning. I was going to say there isn't anything original here but how can I? This story was published in the 19th century so from that perspective, I can now see a lot of plot influences deriving from this in later SF/fantasy films.

 

A lot of money was spent on this movie and it shows. The special effects here are pretty awesome. Not necessarily ground breaking, everything on screen has been done before but its all smoothly done at a grand scale though not quite to the scale of the Star Wars prequels Effects that stood out for me were John Carters "Hulk" like jumps, Martian sky ship battles, green martians (as good as Avatar), and a cute monster dog sidekick that almost steels the show.

 

Another major feature of the film was the cinematography. Its quite spectacular and for a barren dead desert planet, its surprisingly stunning.One of the biggest surprise for me was the 3D. Its post conversion which most often results in poorer quality than films which are filmed in 3D from the start. But an exception can be made here. This is hands down the best 3d conversion film I have seen. The 3d depth was outstanding and really shows its power in numerous landscape and action scenes. This is probably the second best 3d live action film I've seen overall (either filmed in 3d or post converted) and I am normally anti-3d when it comes to live action films. 

 

Taylor Kitsch who plays John Carter has just about enough screen presence portraying a likable anti hero with a punchy attitude and a sense of past history haunting him. Its a Han Solo type role but he plays it more brooding. There is even a Princess Leia and the age old storyline of helping a Princess to fight a war but each with their own agendas. Its all very clichéd, yet still enjoyable. 

 

As much fun as I had with this, there is no denying that there is a lot wrong with it too. I could pick on flaws and lack of logic all day long with this film some of which are smack on the head stupid and some elements I desperately wished more or better development on. The dialogue while often funny, also often dive bombs into cringe-worthiness (much like a Lucas script), the developing romance was very disjointed and sometimes embarrassing (think Anakin and Padme levels of embarrassment). 

 

The 3 way war politics was not very clear, major characters not fleshed out enough and there's a whole lot of story loopholes. Yet there is still a lot more fun to be had to override those flaws. I have a feeling that book lovers will be disappointed because I can detect a lot of back story is missing here and key characters seem very short changed on their development and motives (particularly with the green martians) which I am sure would have been fully fleshed out in the book. However, I reckon if you enjoy films like Thor and GI Joe, you'll have a great time with this. This wont be a classic or even a cult movie but it is a satisfying piece of cinema escapism. And its enough for me to want to read the books!

I have been to Barsoom!

 

Author: Jack_LesCamela from Hollywood, CA

28 February 2012

I am a man of obsessions. For months, a movie I hadn't seen was the thing. Not Peter Jackson's THE HOBBIT, not Joss Whedon's THE AVENGERS, not even the upcoming Sam Mendes directed James Bond movie SKYFALL (which I'm excited about but it hasn't really sunk its hooks into me yet)...No, it was Andrew Stanton's JOHN CARTER.

 

My excitement was not the universal feeling. Disney advertising had dropped the ball and the trailers seemed lackluster to most. Yet something within directed me toward it like a compass points to True North. There was something special about it, something just out of view in the trailers that wouldn't let me go. I trust my obsessions, always, but at some point I got to feeling a bit exhausted and just wanted to know if I was right or maybe a total loon.I've now been to two advance screenings of JOHN CARTER.And? Holy Living Thark! The bar on science fiction and fantasy movies has Officially Been Raised.

 

JOHN CARTER is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars --a novel first published a century ago. I expected to come out of the movie with my head full of comparisons to all the things Burroughs' imagination inspired: STAR WARS, AVATAR, FLASH GORDON, etc. Understandably so, as I'm much more familiar with all of them. That didn't happen. Put simply, if STAR WARS is a kids' science fiction movie franchise that adults enjoy (and it is), then JOHN CARTER is an adult science fiction movie that kids will enjoy.

 

CARTER is such an immersing experience. Every moment reveals something new about Mars; about the exotic alien races and cultures that call it home,or about their individual characters James Cameron's AVATAR showed us a world we've never seen before and it was wondrous to behold, but Andrew Stanton's JOHN CARTER is a movie so rich with detail that it left me feeling like I had been somewhere. JOHN CARTER feels like nothing so much than as if David Lean had made a science fiction epic of love and war set on Mars.

 

This movie has a confidence to it you won't be expecting. It's unafraid to linger over the characters, and give them time to breathe and reveal themselves. My favorite decade for movies is the 1960s, and JOHN CARTER has some of the epic adventure movies of that time running through it like a seam of gold. There's a bit of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA in there as I alluded to before, and perhaps a touch of ZULU and SPARTACUS is mixed in with the Martian airships and predator cities. Old fashioned storytelling magic and 21st century movie sorcery have combined into a film that's a pulp sci-fi masterpiece.

 

To the ERB faithful: please relax. Yes, there are changes from the novel; no, they are not the arbitrary changes made in inferior movie adaptations where the filmmaker just wants to do his/her own ideas. Every change is made to tell Burroughs' story or reveal some aspect of Burroughs' characters in a way more befitting a movie instead of a novel.

 

Going into this, I had absurdly high expectations. A friend of mine told me he was worried the movie wouldn't live up to them and that frankly I was starting to sound a little crazy. Well, the movie went and exceeded my expectations. I love it, and give it a 10/10. I'm definitely going to see it at least six times in the theater, and will finally buy a Blu-Ray player just to watch it at home.

 

I realize this review sounds over the top. That's just how excited I am about the movie. Perhaps in a previous life I was an ancient Greek by the name of Hyperboles? Anyway, see the movie. I guarantee that even if you don't like it as much as I did, you'll see where I was coming from with this gushing review.

Breathtaking

 

Author: Captain_Roberts from Naples, FL

4 March 2012

We just saw a pre-release showing of this movie and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor a few times. The movie is simply stunning. While there may be small details to niggle at for the most die-hard Burroughs fans, this is "inspired by" a Princess of Mars, it isn't a straight adaptation. The movie is a whirlwind of amazing visuals, powerful dialog and soul-wrenching storytelling.

 

I'd had high hopes that this movie would live up to the hype surrounding it. It surpasses it, the hype doesn't even come close. From beginning to end, this movie focuses on story, and expands on a great story with stunning effects as opposed to just using great FX in place of solid storytelling.It also has one of the strongest pieces of non-verbal storytelling outside of Up.Do not miss this film.Do see it in the theaters.Do see it in 3D.You will not be disappointed I'm certainly chomping at the bit for release day so I can see it again and I'm already hoping for a sequel based on The Gods of Mars.

 

Really enjoyed it

 

Author: neil_tipping from United Kingdom

3 March 2012

I did only have modest expectations of this film as the trailer reminded me a bit to much of Dune. Really surprised to find a film which had a good plot line (albeit cynics will liken it to Avatar-lite), well acted, reasonable characterisations, brilliant visuals and a surprisingly good hero figure in Taylor Kitsch. I saw the preview screening this morning - don't really care how much it cost to make - what I found was a big budget film that I really enjoyed from start to finish. My advice - don't follow the cynics and naysayers - see it for yourself. I will normally not go see 3D films (they give me a headache) but the 3D wasn't too intrusive on this one.

 

Becoming John Carter of Mars...

 

Author: Chalice_Of_Evil from Australia

7 March 2012

Not a movie about Noah Wyle's character from the show ER, but rather one based on a book I've never read titled A Princess of Mars. Originally going to be titled John Carter of Mars, the movie apparently dropped the 'of Mars' to "make it more appealing to a broader audience" and this film is supposed to be the origin story "about a guy *becoming* John Carter of Mars" - this probably explains why we finally get the originally-intended title of 'John Carter of Mars' at the very end.

 

The man in question is John Carter from Virginia, ex-Civil War soldier who lost his family and is now gold prospecting. Proceedings are rather slow-going in the beginning of the film, although it's necessary set-up for what's to come. Things don't really get interesting until Carter's transported to Mars, which is known as Barsoom by the inhabitants there, who are 9 to 15 foot tall four-armed green aliens with tusks called Tharks. Thanks to the lower gravity of Mars, Carter has enhanced strength and can leap great distances. We even get a montage devoted to him discovering as much. Some Tharks discover him, the least hostile of which is one named Tars Tarkas (voiced by Willem Dafoe), who winds up thinking Carter's name is Virigina due to miscommunication. Subtitles are used up until Carter is eventually able to understand the Tharks and we hear them speaking in English. At one point he comes to the rescue of an alien dog named Woola, who is extremely loyal/fast and becomes his constant companion. Carter also finds an ally in Sola (Samantha Morton). Eventually he meets the Princess of Mars herself, Dejah Thoris, after having rescued her (it's what he does). And this is where the real story begins.

 

As John Carter and Dejah Thoris, Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins reunite (after the rather ho-hum affair that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Kitsch fits the role of the long-haired hero well (although he is saddled with some rather dodgy dialogue at times). His reactions to the bizarre situations, customs, etc that he finds himself having to deal with are pretty good. He is well-paired with Lynn Collins, who manages to make Dejah actually very human (like when she's nervous about the presentation she's about to give when we first meet her in the city-state of Helium...though, oddly enough, nobody there speaks with funny high-pitched voices like you'd expect). She's certainly the prettiest thing on Mars, but she's also very smart, as well as able to handle herself in a fight. She's equal parts scientist and action heroine. Kitsch and Collins play off each other very well, sharing both humorous and touching moments between them. Also good is James Purefoy as Kantos Kan. Although it's not a big role, he manages to make the most of it and is easily likable, as well as amusing at times. Mark Strong, meanwhile, continues to be the go-to guy for playing a villain.

 

The story is not exactly easy to follow if you aren't paying attention. There's a lot of names of things to keep track of, as well as some twists and turns here and there. The film feels like it kind of rushes things a bit towards the end, as it has to wrap up stuff. Given the running time, you wouldn't think things would need to be like this, but it seems the makers realised their movie was reaching the limit of its runtime and there was still some stuff left to address at the last minute.

 

The effects on display are as dazzling as Dejah's blue eyes. The thought and effort that has gone into designing/creating the creatures, the ships, the costumes, etc is fully on display on the screen. The music helps too. While this movie might not be everyone's cup of tea, it does offer something a bit different in place of what could have been a rather paint-by-the-numbers affair. Yes, some parts are predictable, but there are also some parts that you might not expect. Don't let the trailers fool you, it's not just all mindless action. There is some actual real story going on here (provided, of course, that you can keep track of/follow it). Recommended for anyone who's looking for a slightly off-kilter sci-fi film.

 

 

 

 

Star Wars, Avatar, and John Carter. That's the cinema progression although by now everyone knows that the John Carter books came first and inspired both Lucas and Cameron As a devotee of the books -- I appreciated Star Wars and Avatar, but neither produced the level of excitement and reader/viewer loyalty that Edgar Rice Burroughs did with his vivid and unforgettable tales of John Carter, Dejah Thoris, and Barsoom.

 

So what has Andrew Stanton given us?

 

Answer: A gem that shines bright and true with a light all its own. Stanton has taken the grandmaster's story but he's made it his own and it's fresh and emotionally stirring in ways that are unexpected and make you want to see it a second time, and soon. The gem is not without a few rough edges -- but the core brilliance is unmistakable and undeniable.

 

Stanton is a subtle and sophisticated storyteller with a Pixarian's understanding of how to build characters that stay with you. Whereas Cameron in Avatar was content to extract the simple essence of the Burroughsian pulp narrative and just "go with it", Stanton keeps enough of that to keep the material recognizable but constructs characters that, in deft and certain strokes emerge as fully realized beings who engage us and draw us in to their stories in ways that exceed what his predecessors Burroughs, Lucas, and Cameron were able to do. The result is a richer, character driven experience that transcends the dear sweet old pulpy fiber on which it is based and becomes something grander, richer, and more satisfying.

 

A word about how the film differs from what you're seeing in trailers:The promotion promises spectacle and action and there is plenty of that; but the promotion also suggests that the film will be a kind of childishly simple,woodenly executed mashup of questionable seriousness featuring awkward performances and cartoonish characterization while the film itself is almost the inverse of that--a thoughtful, finely tune spectacle that is a feast of imaginative transport and whose few flaws flow from the fact that it's a three hour epic that plays in two hours and twelve minutes.

 

Taylor Kitsch is convincing and natural and I never thought I'd be saying that, based on the promotion. Lynn Collins is luminous and elevates fully to the level of the "incomparable" Princess of Helium -- genuinely beautiful and strong of will and heart. Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas and Samantha Morton as Sola; Mark Strong as the delicious villain Matai Shang -- the cast is without exception strong. The special effects are state o the art and seamless -- and the music by Michael Giachinno deserves special mention: haunting, unique, and uniquely suited to the material, and the editing by Eric Zumbrunnen seamlessly supports the narrative.

 

The "flaws" amount to quibbles: The film feels lean and compact at 2 hours and 12 minutes and feels as if it could benefit greatly from 10 additional minutes which could have been used profitably to better set up the moment when John Carter and Dejah Thoris "close the deal" on their love, and clarify some story points that are there -- but could be highlighted more. Another beat of John Carter's life among the Tharks, implying a passage of time, would cause John Carter's later knowledge of the Tharks and their culture to make more sense (as it is now he seems to pick it up in a matter of days and as audience we never see where that knowledge comes from ). Another beat of John Carter absorbing the new world he finds himself in, and implicitly comparing it to what he left behind, would be welcome and would strengthen the impact we would feel when he makes that choice. But these minor points should not distract for the overall brilliance with which Stanton has executed a challenging assignment.

 

This is a film that bears watching more than once, and is complex and nuanced enough that subsequent viewings will no doubt reveal new treasures and clarify the minor rough edges -- yet it is also compelling and moving on an immersive first viewing in the theater. Perhaps the best indication of that is the fact that, in spite of my supposed knowledge of and sensitivity to film structure -- I was taken by surprise when it ended and was in no way ready for it to end. Could the full two hours have gone by that fast? How? And as I sit here writing about it the next morning, if there were an opportunity to go back and see it again tonight, I would do so without hesitation and, quibbles aside, that's a simple but ultimately profound recommendation.

 

A final thought: Like everyone, I've got plenty of things going on in my life and my world, distracting things, things that makes me worry, things that drag my mind out of a movie when I'm watching it and back into my world. Not one little tiny bit of that intruded into this movie. I was transported and when it was over I couldn't believe that was it -- I thought there was at least another 45 minutes owed to the audience. On a visceral level, without trying to overthink it -- that says a lot about what Andrew Stanton has accomplished, building on the foundation of the grandmaster Edgar Rice Burroughs.

 

This was without exaggeration the most impressive movie I've ever seen. It's the stuff cinema and 3-D are made for. I experienced it as a partly breathtaking parade of impressive landscapes, panorama shots, aliens, costumes and sets connected by a complex story about power, resistance and of course love that culminates in a clever ending.

 

The only reason I give not all 10 stars is because I have to confess that I found the story sometimes a little too complex and therefore hard to follow.But this feast for the eye is by any means the money for the ticket worth. I've never seen such a spectacular movie. My dream fulfilled: A new overwhelming sf- spectacular which isn't part of the Star Wars or Star Trek franchise but opens a new rich and fantastic world and which has- in opposite to the SW prequels- a logical and intricate story.All my hopes that it won't bomb but allow new adventures with John Carter on the Mars to be filmed.

 

 

 

John Carter did not get the attention that it needed! This movie should of been more successful and despite what most of the critics and viewers are saying about this movie, "that its a lot like Star Wars and Avatar", that is not true. I have found John Carter to be an amazing movie visually, and the story was actually great. Don't get me wrong, Star Wars and Avatar were great movies, but I believe that John Carter was far much different and slightly better. I saw John Carter in the theaters the week that it came out and I had a lot of fun watching this movie!. So the hell with the critics, in my opinion, John Carter kicked ass!!!!.

 

 

-Mario Kassar had the project at Disney in the 1980s, but it was also listed under his development projects during his deal at Paramount in the mid-'90s. In 2004--when the project was still known as "A Princess of Mars" after the book on which it's based--Robert Rodriguez had originally been signed and announced as director and had begun pre-production early that year (it would have been his largest project to date, with starting budget reported at $100 million). Rodriguez' most notable contribution was to hire fantasy painter Frank Frazetta (whose most acclaimed works have included striking illustrations of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, most notably the "John Carter on Mars" books) as production designer. However, when Rodriguez resigned from the Directors' Guild of America (DGA) the same year (due to a dispute over his film Sin City), Paramount was forced to replace him.

* 

The studio has a long-standing arrangement with the DGA in which only the organization's members may direct Paramount films. He was replaced with Kerry Conran, who had just finished Capitaine Sky et le monde de demain. In 2005 Conran left the project and was replaced by Jon Favreau just before the release of Favreau's movie Zathura - Une aventure spatiale; Favreau was on-board to direct until around August 2006. At that time Paramount chose not to renew the film rights, preferring to focus on Star Trek, and Favreau left to work on Iron Man. In January 2007 Disney regained the rights (it had rights to film the story previously: in the 1980s with director John McTiernan), and enlisted Andrew Stanton from Pixar to direct.

-"A Princess of Mars" was originally published as "Under the Moons of Mars" by Norman Bean (Edgar Rice Burroughs' pseudonym) in The All-Story (six pulp magazine issues February - July, 1912). Burroughs was originally afraid that he might be ridiculed for writing such a tale, so he decided to use a pen name. The pseudonym was supposed to be a pun "Normal Bean" (as in "I'm a normal being") to reassure people, but the man who typeset the text thought it was a mistake,so he changed it to"Norman".However, Burroughs' fears turned out to be unfounded the story and its sequels,collectively known as the"Barsoom series"'were almost as popular (and arguably more influential) as those of his most famous creation, Tarzan.

-Jon Hamm and Josh Duhamel were considered for the role of John Carter.

-Probably holds the record for having the longest period of "development hell" for any movie, at 79 years. Preproduction for a film version first started in 1931, when Robert Clampett (director of 'Looney Tunes') approached author Edgar Rice Burroughs to make an animated feature out of the first book in the series, "A Princess of Mars" (the same story that this film is an adaptation of). Had plans gone through, 'John Carter' could have become America's first animated feature, beating Walt Disney's Blanche Neige et les sept nains (1937). The film finally left development hell in January 2010 when filming officially started in London.

-The music in the first theatrical trailer uses two instrumental arrangements of "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. The first (starting at 0:53) was performed by Australian/British string quartet Bond, the second (starting at 1:25) was performed by Corner Stone Cues (this arrangement is called "Ten Years Kashmir Mvt II (Orch, Choir & Perc Mix))".

-This marks the third live-action franchise under the Walt Disney banner to earn a PG-13 rating in the United States. The first being Pirates des Caraïbes, la malédiction du Black Pearl and its sequels and the second being Prince of Persia - Les sables du temps.

-The Teaser features the song "My Body is a Cage", originally written by Arcade Fire. The version used in the teaser is by Peter Gabriel, released on his 2011 album of cover versions, "Scratch My Back".

-The first "John Carter" story by Edgar Rice Burroughs made its debut in 1912 in a magazine serial. Thus, the 2012 feature film marks the centenary (100th anniversary) of the character's first appearance.

-The film was originally titled and marketed as "John Carter of Mars", but director Andrew Stanton removed "of Mars" from the opening credits and promotional material to make it more appealing to a broader audience, stating that the film is an "origin story... It's about a guy becoming John Carter of Mars." The entire title "John Carter of Mars" is displayed during the end credits.

-Dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs.

-When Jon Favreau learned that Andrew Stanton had picked up the film, he gave him a call congratulating him and requesting that he could play a Thark. Favreau voices a "Thark Bookie".

-The book was written in Utah and much of the film was shot in Utah, almost 100 years apart.

-HIDDEN MICKEY: One of Dejah's red tattoos on her right arm.

-The movie's lead couple, Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins, both starred in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Kitsch as Gambit and Collins as Kayla Silverfox.

-For each of the super jumps that Taylor Kitsch performed, he was attached to a harness that allowed him to free-fall at a speed of 80 mph. Kitsch apparently found it unpleasant.

-Willem Dafoe accepted the role of Tars Tarkas because he thought it was interesting for him to act while wearing pajamas and walking on stilts.

-About 1,800 costumes were designed--383 yards of cloth material were used to design the Thern costumes, while Dejah's wedding dress, cuffs and crown had 120,000 Swarovski crystals attached by hand.

-While filming at Big Water in Utah, the crew accidentally discovered a 60 feet long sauropod skeleton. The site of discovery was then put into the handling by the state's land management bureau.

-Ciarán Hinds, James Purefoy, Polly Walker and Nicholas Woodeson also played together in the TV series Rome.

-The change in title from "A Princess of Mars" to "John Carter of Mars," and later simply to "John Carter" is the subject of some controversy. Conflicting reasons given include that the Disney marketing department or director Andrew Stanton wanted to appeal to a broader audience, or that the studio had hoped to create a film series with the "John Carter" banner title. Industry lore also suggests that films with "Mars" in the title tend to under perform financially, most notably Milo sur Mars which was also distributed by Disney and proved a colossal flop for the studio. Ironically, "John Carter" would prove to be the biggest financial disappointment for Disney since "Mars Needs Moms."

-Robert Zemeckis turned down the chance to direct, quipping "George already pillaged all of that" with the "Star Wars" films. In other words, most of the best elements of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars fantasies had already been "borrowed" for George Lucas' space operas.

-Director Andrew Stanton's live-action directorial debut.

-In the arena John Carter is chained to a rock. The top of the spike that is in the rock is the shape of the D in the Walt Disney logo.

-In the make-believe culture in the movie, the two moons orbiting Mars/Barsoom are called Thuria and Cluros. In serious astronomy they are called Phobos and Deimos (Greek words for Fear and Terror).

-The voice actors for the two Thark candidates for chief have played lead villains in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies. Willem Dafoe (Tars Tarkas) played the Green Goblin in Spider-Man and Thomas Haden Church (Tal Hajus) played the Sandman in Spider-Man 3.

-In Arizona, John Carter's bad behavior lands him in a jail operated by the United States Army's 7th Cavalry. This was the same regiment that George Armstrong Custer served in.

La critique de DEVIL DEAD (fin)

 

Les auteurs insufflent aussi des touches humoristiques qui tranchent un peu avec le ton bien plus sérieux des livres originaux. Pour autant, il s’agit d’une relecture plutôt réussie, peut être même bien trop riche pour un film d’un peu plus de deux heures. Car lorsque Edgar Rice Burroughs prenait son temps pour décrire les peuples de Mars ainsi que ses personnages, le film complique l’intrigue.Un choix certainement dicté par l’envie de placer un véritable complot fil rouge de l’histoire, tout en présentant un véritable méchant tirant les ficelles. Un vilain qui sera à même d’être développé dans une suite explorant bien plus avant les événements des livres suivants : Les Dieux de Mars et Le Guerrier de Mars. En effet, si à l'origine, sa présence est palpable dans le seconde livre, il ne fera sa véritable apparition que dans le troisième ouvrage.

 

Et parmi les agencements inévitables, on voit aussi mal comment il aurait été possible de présenter la princesse Dejah Thoris totalement nue à l’écran ou montrer sa progéniture sous la forme d'un oeuf (cet aspect étant totalement occulté ici) ! Enfin, le design général de JOHN CARTER n’est pas non plus totalement fidèle, en particulier les engins volants décrits comme des dirigeables prennent des allures assez différentes. Autant de modifications qui devraient nous faire hurler à la trahison !Et pourtant, le résultat fonctionne. Les personnages prennent vie, l’univers s’installe et l’aventure est au rendez-vous tout en conservant le charme de l'aventure extraterrestre selon Edgar Rice Burroughs. Evidemment, on pourra encore noter quelques imperfections en dehors de cette impression que l’histoire se déroule un peu vite. Par exemple, l’acteur principal n’a peut être pas le charisme nécessaire, à défaut d’avoir une musculature adéquate, pour incarner le héros de cette aventure.On trouvera aussi curieux le passage avec les soldats américains dans le préambule, passage inutile et inexistant dans le livre. Mais tout cela, finalement, n’a pas une très grande importance et il serait dommage de bouder notre plaisir de découvrir une belle aventure sur grand écran !

 

Christophe "Arioch" Lemonnier