Of all the books I read as a kid that I have waited to see on the big screen, the John Carter books were first and foremost on my list. This was one of the earlier books I read as a kid that blew my imagination away. I didn't even read them in order, the first two I read were actually books(see pic above) from later in the series, but I was hooked and went out, found and read all of them. Here was a world where the inhabitants of Mars were not little green men but tall huge tusked four armed violent warriors that laughed during battle! The main human-like inhabitants are Red hued, scantily clad yet loaded with swords and guns slung on their hips and across their backs. They are constantly at war with other city states, Assassination is a common practice run by guilds, and of course the Mad Scientists who construct their unmanned ships and synthetic-men. Pirates colored dark ebony sail and raid the skies... and of course the Plant-Men, blue in hue and carnivorous! The protagonist of the series John Carter is a Civil War vet, lost in the mountains of AZ running from Indians, seeks refuge up in a cave and then finds himself transported to Mars. A skilled fighter as is, he is made even fiercer due to his abilities heightened by the difference in gravity. Early on he meets and falls in love with the "incomparable" and beautiful Dejah Thoris and throughout the series he is fighting for her and the city state of Helium. Dejah though is no women in distress by any means. Edgar Rice Burroughs (Yes, the creator of Tarzan) was well ahead of his times writing these books in the early 1900's with making her so strong.
Now did the movie totally nail it, was it what I've been waiting for all these years...? Not exactly, but in all fairness they got plenty right and I enjoyed it (and will watch a million times on DVD). John Carter is a fun old school Sci-Fi/Fantasy flick. The critics who ripped this apart and gave it under two stars are a bunch of self-hating, disgruntled, clueless English Lit majors. Saying that you've seen this all before shows an utter lack of understanding of the source material. It was written a 100yrs ago! It's not that you've see it all before...it's that John Carter is the source material for most of the Sci-Fi you have ever seen. More importantly, this film has its own look. Are there some things they borrowed from others, sure, big deal. As for convoluted storyline, I guess if you suffer from ADD or are not too bright, then yeah maybe, but if you're of reasonable intelligence you should be fine.
For fans of the books without spoiling things they did make some major changes. For one thing, in the books the Therns are a religious order and in the first book no one has ever seen them. This is a major plot point of the early stories. In the movie their role is very different. In the book the explanation of how he got to Mars was kinda weak..which was odd considering all the inventions that he did foresee. In the movie how he gets to Mars ties in with the Therns new storyline. A major plot point of the overall stories is that Barsoom( Mars) is a dying world that requires an Atmosphere plant powered by the 9th ray to provide air. In the movie it's never mentioned(I found this odd, the subplot of religious orders and energy resources that he wrote about 100 yrs ago are so timely now) and the 9th ray is used more as a weapon though it is alluded that it can be used for good. They also took a lot of liberties with Dejah's character. It is with the Tharks and key Thark characters they did the most justice to the books. Oddly enough the "dog" creature is from the books, though not so sure about his Road-Runner like speed.
I do think the script could have been better, some lines were a bit campy, but the actors all did a good job and deserve far more credit then they have been given. The main problems have more to do with the terrible job the geniuses at Disney did in marketing it, due to their fears about the failure with Mars needs Moms. They are so damn stupid that they think just hearing Mars in a title would have an adverse effect on people decision to see the movie. The other problem is that though written 100 yrs ago...the John Carter books were R rated not PG. They were full of bloody battles and atrocities committed by vicious warriors, terrible monsters, and maniacal mad scientists. Also, due to the heat the Martians are scantily clad wearing nothing more then boots/scandels, battle harnesses and briefs/thongs. Again Disney tried to appeal to the masses. I think this will do well overseas and fantastic on DVD. Much like John Carter...I yearn to return to Mars and look forward to a sequel or two. All in all this is a fun old school Sci-Fi/Fantasy movie and if this is your genre go out and see it. If you like it, buy the original books, they are great and Dynamite-Warlord of Mars Comics is doing a few series based not only on the books, but stories from Mars past that focus on Dejah Thoris and on Barsoom's distant past that have been absolutely fantastic and fun.
