Rambling Review: John Carter

Judging by some of the recent headlines, you would be led to think that John Carter is a a great disappointment as a movie; that it is not worth seeing; and that people must be leaving movie theaters all over the United States wishing they could get their money back.  Quite the opposite is true.  Granted, John Carter is not a “great” movie, but it is a really good movie that is worth your time and money.  As the bad press for the movie was emerging, I also started to hear of reports of others really liking the movie, particularly from those whose opinion I respect.  That piqued my interest all the more.  (Although I did not read this until after seeing the movie,  Pete Peterson’s review over on The Rabbit Room is definitely worth the time, and makes the point far better than I will here as to why you should see John Carter.)  Having watched all five seasons of the TV series, Friday Night Lights, I was interested to see how “Riggins” (Taylor Kitsch) performed in a feature film as the lead character, John Carter.  I thought he did well, and was a good fit for the character.  The lead female role of Dejah Thoris was played by Lynn Collins, who I was completely unfamiliar with, and I found her character quite interesting.  It is not every day that you get a brilliant scientist- fierce warrior-beautiful princess all rolled into one!  Sure there a few weak spots, but come on, it’s a movie, and the strengths of the movie outweigh them.  There’s actually a story that gets developed and has some interesting characters, and you have to actually pay attention.  Sure, there are some predictable spots, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and then there are other times when you are left guessing up until the last second.  You might guess correctly, and other times you might be surprised.  I loved the ending, and there was a scene in the middle of the movie that was one of the most powerful sixty or so seconds that I can remember in some time.  When John Carter comes out on DVD  I will definitely buy it, but hopefully will get another chance to see it on the big screen before then.