You know all those action movies you find yourself mentally justifying as just a bit of dumb fun? John Carter of Mars is a film you don’t have to apologize for, one that doesn’t treat the audience like a bunch of stroke victims, one that isn’t about demonstrating how much smarter than you some jaded producer thinks he is through ironical send ups and oh-so-knowing winks at whatever drek passes for pop culture hipness these days. It’s fun in the uplifting, genuine, sincere way that classic films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars were fun.
I rarely go to the movies, it’s seldom worth the hassle. John Carter of Mars was worth the hassle. Hell, I’m going to go see it again. It’s an event film, it’s the antidote to all the design-by-committee incoherent action movies that come out of Hollywood these days. If the brainless animatronic puppets that ran Disney’s marketing department were even half as convincingly human as the ones in Disney’s theme parks, maybe they wouldn’t have mis-marketed and betrayed this movie to the extent that they have, to the extent that everyone who sees the previews thinks John Carter of Mars must be some unholy hybrid of Avatar and The Phantom Menace.
Here are the trailers it should have had, courtesy of the John Carter Files:
If you like the kind of fiction and movies I talk about on this site, you owe it to yourself to go see this movie.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I saw, loved it, raved about it on my blog. Then I took my wife (who was out of town when the movie hit theaters), and she loved it.
I agree with your post, Bill. This movie was short changed by Disney as their marketing department all but sank the film due to their mis-management. I have seen John Carter (of Mars) in the theater and loved it. It is a film that is best seen on the big screen to gain its full appreciation. I hope that people go and see it. It would be a shame to miss out on such a fun movie!
Thanks for the comments, guys. Seems there are two camps, those that have seen it and loved it — and those who won’t touch it based on the dumb trailers and the media’s gleeful celebration of the movie’s commercial failure.