John Carter

 Rated PG-13;  Starring: Taylor Kitsch (Remy Lebeau/Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Lynn Collins (Silverfox in X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

First let me say I am starting to get hooked on IMAX 3D, which sucks because they are so expensive to go see. Second I promise to not have spoilers in this review, since most probably haven’t seen it yet.

I have read most of the Barsoom (which is what the inhabitants of Mars call their planet) sci-fi/adventure novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This movie is in part based on the novel “A Princess of Mars” written by ERB around 1917. The characters are pretty much the same as they were in the novel (even Burroughs makes an appearance just like in the original story), the storyline was changed a little. They could make a sequel out of the second half of the book. I think there were 10 or 11 novels in total. But now I’m starting to ramble about the book which isn’t what this is supposed to be about.

The main thing I want to accomplish with these reviews is get someone who isn’t sure if they want to see something, the information necessary to make that decision. Of course I have to do that without giving away too much of the movie. With that said, if you’re on the fence about this movie get the hell off of it before a Thark warrior uses one of his four arms to rip one of your off. John Carter is a Civil War veteran who for certain reasons ends up in a cave out west and is transported to Barsoom. There he is thrust into a Civil War on that planet. There aren’t any surprises in the plot, but it is a very entertaining couple of hours.

The CGI (especially the Tharks) is awesome, the 3D is awesome but you come to expect these things from Disney. I thought the movie rolled along at a good pace, except for a couple of slow scenes. The movie has a listed run time of 2 hours and 12 minutes, but it feels more like maybe 1 ½ hours. When it ended, I was actually a little disappointed. Not in the movie but in the fact that it was over. I feel like I could have easily sat there for another hour , if they could have kept the same pace up. There are two things I am now waiting on: the Blu-Ray release so I see deleted/extended scenes and the sequel that is bound to come out in couple of years. This was probably the best 3D movie I have seen since Avatar.

One last thing, it completely blows my mind that everything in this movie is based on a novel written almost 100 years ago. If you have the time read “A Princess of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.