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| Andrew Stanton (foreground) and Taylor Kitsch during filming on John Carter. Frank Connor / Disney |
Let me start off by saying, I have nothing but respect for Andrew Stanton. The animated films he directed at Pixar are some of the best ever. That's not to say I was thrilled by Disney's John Carter, Stanton's live action directorial debut opening on Friday.
Aside from the pulpy nature of the source material, John Carter didn't live up to my expectations on a number of levels, beginning with the screenplay. Written by Stanton, Brave co-director Mark Andrews, and Michael Chabon, it would never have left the door at Pixar.
You know things aren't going in the right direction when two characters borrow Harrison Ford's and Tommy Lee Jones' "I thought you didn't care" repartee from The Fugitive.
Taylor Kitsch's kitschy (the pun was irresistible) portrayal of the title character makes matters worse. After being right on target in the earthbound scenes, as soon as he arrives in Barsoom, the corn starts coming out of his ears.
How much of the overacting from Kitsch and others in the cast is to blame on the script they were given, their own acting abilities, or Stanton's direction, I don't know.
Even the visual effects are nothing special—not post-Avatar, at least. How is it possible that the CG creatures here are less realistic than the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, a movie two decades old?
By now you may be asking, is there anything good about John Carter? There is, starting with Carter's jumping, surprisingly enough, which the camera follows with a fluid energy.
The action sequences, despite the lackluster effects, are well executed. The same goes for cinematography and music. A battle juxtaposed with painful memories of Earth conveys the character's trauma better than anything else.
Strongest of all are the closing moments—Carter choosing to return to the red planet to be with the (Martian) woman he loves.
Would Andrew Stanton please do the same with Pixar?
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29 comments:
Spoiler alert in the review, in case anyone's skipping straight down here to the comments.
Spoilers? Do you need to state the end? :(
Alright, alright!
Saddened, but not entirely surprised, to hear this.
Good. Now take the quotes off of spoilers.
:)
yes this is gonna flop. i feel bad for Andrew.
Dear god! Mike, I like your blog, but stop being a jerk about "quote-on-quote" """spoilers"""!
What is so difficult to understand about people not wanting to know big reveals in the plot or even THE ENDING!!!
You only get to watch a film for the first time once, and yes, we don't want it SPOILED!
Get it now?!?
It's not the Lorax that's for sure
Not surprised by this in the least. Ever since I saw the trailer for John Carter, it's looked like a piece of junk.
Since I saw the trailers (Spanish dubs of course) I started to judge this movie for being a uncomfortable mixture of prince of persia and pirates of caribbean (both movies have a very confident and self-aware character, and this one follows them at some extent) and without saying the bland dialogues that sometimes characters do in climatic situations. I think is not Stanton's fault despite being his first foray producing real-life movies as the Disney company seems to be still desperately looking for a good replacement for the now zombie-franchise PoTC.
Anonymous #4: You mean "quote, unquote" :)
The comment "Even the visual effects are nothing special—not post-Avatar, at least." has very little bearing - how can the effects of any films be compared to the behemoth of a film that featured near unlimited budget and every vfx company working tirelessly on it for years?
Hah, yeah right. The book has been around for some time, I'd figure it's not really anything bordering on spoiler. If it was an original story fine but it isn't.
Darrell doesn't like it but Darrell dislikes everything so what's new.
I agree with your assessment except one thing. I thought the music/score was terrible. Sappy and terribly dated. Sounded like someone doing bad imitations of the dramatic music from Lost.
Thank God we don't all like or dislike the same things. This film looks to be fantastic and most people who have seen the pre-screenings have liked it very much.
I'm going to see this tonight, and I'll reserve judgment on the film until then.
He saw a different movie than me. I liked it quite a bit and thought the effects were very good.
I can tell you one thing, to base this movie on the trailers is a mistake.
He's got every right to have "spoilers" in quotes. The definition of spoilers varies widely, depending on who you ask; and some of us, including myself, don't believe in their legitimacy at all, in favor of critically analyzing media before and after viewing. Let the guy run his own blog, and be happy if he tips you off beforehand about any material in his post that just might ""spoil"" your first experience.
Man, I hope Andrew Stanton comes back. His Pixar films are my absolute favorites. The guy's totally got a gift.
I just saw it, and I thought it was....okay. Not a bad film, but not a great one either. Rather disappointing for Andrew Stanton's live action directorial debut. No Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol, that's for certain.
Hey Mike,
Nice job leaving out feedback that was critical of you!
The movie is really quite good. Read the books as a young boy and I think he really captures the spirit of the stories. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but still solid work.
Hey people! If it has a warning saying it contains spoilers, it's because more than likely, it does. Once you see that you just don't scroll down if you really don't want to have your "first time experience" spoiled.
As for your review, Mike, I have to say I agree thoroughly on everything you wrote. It's sad to see Stanton's live-action directorial debut turn out like this ): I really wanted to like this one, since WALL·E is higher in my list than Ratatouille, and I really enjoyed M:I4. (Brad Bird implied here)
And this actually makes me doubt about Brave's quality. I mean, Andrew Stanton was supposed to be the script maestro at Pixar. He even got Oscar nominations! And there is this script, written by him, Mark Andrews and some other guy. I hope it was this third guy who screwed up.
Perhaps the production pipeline for a live-action movie was too unknown for Mr. Stanton...
The movie was really good!
I felt it was what Avatar tried to be but failed. It is better than Avatar.
It is one of the better big budget films we've had in recent years.
Anon said: "I agree with your assessment except one thing. I thought the music/score was terrible. Sappy and terribly dated. Sounded like someone doing bad imitations of the dramatic music from Lost."
Well Michael Giacchino scored the Lost series and John Carter, which is why it may sound similar.
Also, Mike...did you ever post about Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton working on a short film together at Pixar?
I watched the movie having only seen the first trailer and not knowing anything about it other than Andrew Stanton's involvement. That was enough to convince 5 of my friends to come. At the end, 3 of us totally loved it and the other 3 thought it was pretty good.
I don't really understand where all of the hate for it is coming from that I've seen online.
Previous Anonymous: It's not newsy enough that two Pixarians are throwing around ideas for a short.
Was this an attempt for Andrew Stanton like what Brad Bird did for 'Ghost Protocol'? Because it's one sore sight to see...
Completely disagree with you, Mike. Went to see this today, and I was very impressed with how much fun it was, even though it didn't feel particularly "fresh".
Taylor and Lynn were quite good actually (especially Lynn), as was most everyone else really. I think it's a shame it's doing so poorly. Oh well.
I saw it yesterday in 3D and I actually enjoyed the film a lot. It made me want to go out and start reading the other books in the series. Yes it's long, but I'm happy that it wraps up neatly. I hate films that end and depend on a sequel that never comes. I'd watch a sequel of this however, in my opinion I liked this a LOT more then I liked Avatar. The 10 minute preview on Apple.com/trailers made me want to see it in theaters, so go watch that before you judge. It's a fun sci-fi adventure flick, go to the movies, turn your brain off, and enjoy it :)
I'm starting to have fears about Brad Bird's planned earthquake epic, 1906. Yah, Mission: Impossible did well, but that was a built-in success of a franchise. 1906 is not. It is all John Carter, no Incredibles
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