John Carter

Based on Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs's 1912 first installment of a pulpy adventure series about a Civil War veteran who battles evil forces on Mars, John Carter combines recognizable elements of other films, ranging from Star Wars to Avatar. Battle-scarred Confederate officer John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) suddenly finds himself on the desert-like planet Mars—known as Barsoom—which is being ravaged by a tribal war between the kingdom of Helium and the airborne Zodangans, a conflict manipulated by malevolent, shape-shifting Matai Shang (Mark Strong). To end the fighting, Helium's Tardos Mors (Ciaran Hinds) betroths his daughter, Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins), to evil Zodangan Prince Sab Than (Dominic West). After discovering his astonishing physical prowess—due to the Red Planet's weaker gravity—jumping John Carter befriends the toweringly thin, four-armed, spear-throwing Tharks, whose leaders (Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton) function as noble savages, like James Cameron's Na'vi. Of course, the earthling also becomes Dejah's champion. Making his live-action debut, Pixar director Andrew Stanton's (Finding Nemo, WALL-E) indulgent film had an astronomical $250 million budget (earning back less than a third of that stateside at the box office). As for former Abercrombie & Fitch model Kitsch, he mostly postures, poses, and growls in the lead, not unlike the lumbering, dog-like creature Calot here. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Andrew Stanton and producers Jim Morris and Lindsey Collins, a "100 Years in the Making" featurette on the journey of Edgar Rice Burroughs's source novel to the big screen (11 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a "360 Degrees of John Carter" behind-the-scenes featurette (35 min.), deleted scenes with optional commentary (20 min.), bloopers (2 min.), and a bonus DVD copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing epic.] (S. Granger)