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While John Carter looks terrific and delivers its share of pulpy thrills, it also suffers from uneven pacing and occasionally incomprehensible plotting and characterization.
All Critics (229) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (118) | Rotten (111) | DVD (5)
A mess. Mar 26, 2012
A mess.
David Denby
As one of Pixar's star players, Stanton is an experienced cinematic storyteller, which is why it's disappointing that his first live-action project is so unwieldy at times. Mar 16, 2012 | Rating: 2.1/2 | Full Review…
As one of Pixar's star players, Stanton is an experienced cinematic storyteller, which is why it's disappointing that his first live-action project is so unwieldy at times.
Leonard Maltin
Stanton should go back to making machines talk. He puts much more humanity into them than he manages to extract from Burroughs, even with all that nostalgia working for him. Mar 9, 2012 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
Stanton should go back to making machines talk. He puts much more humanity into them than he manages to extract from Burroughs, even with all that nostalgia working for him.
Sandra Hall
The most indelible performance in the film is not, strictly speaking, a performance at all. Rather it is Woola, a six-legged Martian hound who rather resembles a cross between a bulldog and a fetal gila monster. Mar 9, 2012 | Full Review…
The most indelible performance in the film is not, strictly speaking, a performance at all. Rather it is Woola, a six-legged Martian hound who rather resembles a cross between a bulldog and a fetal gila monster.
Christopher Orr
The reported $250 million price tag for John Carter gives one pause. I suppose one could argue that masterpieces have no price. Then again, John Carter is no masterpiece. Mar 9, 2012 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…
The reported $250 million price tag for John Carter gives one pause. I suppose one could argue that masterpieces have no price. Then again, John Carter is no masterpiece.
Peter Rainer
Where John Carter continually gets it right is pacing, levity, and breadth of story. Mar 9, 2012 | Rating: B | Full Review…
Where John Carter continually gets it right is pacing, levity, and breadth of story.
Laremy Legel
For the most part, the first "live action" feature by Andrew Stanton, is graphically splendiferous and enjoyably nonsensical. Feb 25, 2019 | Full Review…
For the most part, the first "live action" feature by Andrew Stanton, is graphically splendiferous and enjoyably nonsensical.
J. Hoberman
John Carter has a sense of adventure, a sense of fun and, best of all, a sense of proportion. It's a family-friendly bet that honors its roots and its audience. Feb 5, 2019 | Full Review…
John Carter has a sense of adventure, a sense of fun and, best of all, a sense of proportion. It's a family-friendly bet that honors its roots and its audience.
Abbie Bernstein
An enjoyable piece of mainstream escapist cinema, its often illogical plot held together by a decent cast, some well-placed Flash Gordon-esque moments of humor and a strict mandate to never take itself too seriously. Dec 18, 2018 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
An enjoyable piece of mainstream escapist cinema, its often illogical plot held together by a decent cast, some well-placed Flash Gordon-esque moments of humor and a strict mandate to never take itself too seriously.
Daniel Green
This story is more original than Avatar, but lacks Avatar's elegance. Nov 8, 2018 | Rating: 7/10 | Full Review…
This story is more original than Avatar, but lacks Avatar's elegance.
Debbie Baldwin
While there isn't much new terrain here, what distinguishes Carter is the quality and richness of what they extract from the soil. Nov 3, 2018 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…
While there isn't much new terrain here, what distinguishes Carter is the quality and richness of what they extract from the soil.
Zaki Hasan
Taylor Kitsch's nipples star in Cowboys & Aliens 2: Electric Boogaloo. On Mars. In 3-D. Yay? Oct 30, 2018 | Rating: 3/10 | Full Review…
Taylor Kitsch's nipples star in Cowboys & Aliens 2: Electric Boogaloo. On Mars. In 3-D. Yay?
Johnny Gayzmonic
Its a rainy Saturday afternoon movie for tweens. That said, Edgar Rice Burroughs isn't too badly served by this leave-your-thinking-cap-off glorioski extravaganza, with miles and miles of CGI animation used to get ... meh. Yer gonna need more popcorn. Its sorta okay. Is it still raining outside?
Super Reviewer
A US cavalry officer is accidentally transported to Mars where he encounters a warring civilisation who require his help to end the conquest of their world by a brutal warlord. When talking about cynical marketing campaigns, it's usual to point to terrible films that become big hits through licensing, advertising and sponsorship deals, but the other side of the coin is John Carter. To say that this film bombed at the box office would be an understatement of the highest order. Those responsible for the marketing of this film fumbled the ball on such a colossal scale that it couldn't hope to recoup the reported budget of $250,000,000 despite the fact that it really isn't all that bad. It's fair to say that you can see where the money was spent; it's a very attractive film packed with nice production design, spectacular set pieces and a quality cast. The problem with John Carter is that it doesn't really capture the imagination in the way a large scale sci-fi adventure should. The culture created in the form of Barsoom is rather charmless and there's little in the way of chemistry between what should be the big romantic leads at its centre. There are also too many supporting characters who get too little screen time on their own making it hard to care about any of the protagonists. But by far the biggest blunder is in how seriously it takes itself; a little campiness and a self-deprecating sense of humour would have gone a long way to making the film a lot more likeable. The result is a po-faced cross between Flash Gordon and Xena: Warrior Princess with a big budget but having said all that, the pacey if somewhat episodic plot and large scale battle sequences maintain the interest for the duration. As a whole it's rather too clinical and soulless but John Carter didn't deserve to sink without a trace and I'd much rather sit through it again than The Phantom Menace or Attack Of The Clones.
I like science fiction, and enjoyed the movie. Perhaps not having read "A Princess of Mars" is a good thing, as I didn't have the book to compare to.
John Carter must've been pretty cool at the time the books were released, but so many things since, including Star Wars and Dune - have been ripped off or inspired by John Carter -- so revisiting the John Carter tale in these modern movie times, seems dull and tired. The beginning was weighted down by the backstory wild-west setting on Earth - when viewers simply wanted to get to Barsoom and begin the excitement. The arena scenes were soo much like Attack of the Clones on the Geonosis planet. I tried several times, but just couldn't get into this movie, even when re-watching in 3D. Most of the creatures were icky. Poor Disney lost money on this thing - maybe they can re-use some of the sets and costumes in the next Star Wars movies.
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