Movie Review: Disney's John Carter

By Guest Writer Julie Terrone

Disney’s John Carter, an Action/Adventure/Drama‎, opens in theaters today. My 9 year old son and I enjoyed the humor, the action and the story, but some big time- action movie buffs might not think the action lives up to the likes of most major action movies. My son laughed at different parts and was able to follow the story, which takes place in 1868. Based on the 1912 serial by Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi adventure story A Princess Of Mars, John Carter (played by Taylor Kitsch from “Friday Night Lights”) is about a Captain in the 1^st Virginia Cavalry who has nothing left in his life but his search for gold. He is mistakenly teleported to Mars, called Barsoom and finds himself fighting for his life and saving others much like he did on Earth, a.k.a. Jarsoom. On Mars, Carter has great anti-gravity leaping ability and can bound high and far, which is something that the natives cannot do, but piques their interest.

Upon landing on Mars, he is captured by huge, tusked, nomadic barbarians, whom he later is given the honor of becoming one of them and is given the choice to help them fight in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet or forced to fend for himself. He saves Princess Dejah Thoris , who is about to be forced into an arranged marriage to the evil Sab Than (Dominic West) by her father to save her nation of Helium, but Than, under the control of Matai Shang (Mark Strong) secretly wants to destroy her nation to obtain ultimate power of Mars.

John realized the survival of this planet and the life and happiness of a princess lies in his hands; he rediscovers his humanity and does not want the ones he comes to care for die, like his wife and daughter did on Earth. It has a twist at the end, (which I will not give away) which my son was trying to wrap his head around to figure out, though adults will get it.