Dir: Andrew Stanton
*Spoiler alert*
John Carter is a big screen adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom (Mars) stories, which made its debut in 1912 in a magazine serial. The plot is basically about a Virginian civil war soldier who comes across a teleportation device in a cave, which coincidentally transports him to the planet Barsoom or Mars to avoid confusion.
The film itself is one of the most expensive ever made costing a whopping $250 million. It holds a strong cast with the likes of Taylor Kitsch, Ciaran Hinds, Bryan Cranston and the aptly named Mark Strong. As well as being the most expensive films of all time, it is also infamously known as one of the biggest flops in cinema history.
The problems that would plague this historical-collapse-of-a-movie started right before its release when director, Andrew Stanton was quoted saying, "I made this film for me, I do not care about how much it cost". Another hit to the John Carter metaphorical ship was Disney's decision to name the film just "John Carter" and remove the "of Mars". This baffling verdict made no sense to fans of the Edgar Rice Burrough series, but was later explained by the producers to be a tactic so the film would relate to a 'wider audience and not just fans of science fiction', a decision that no doubt was later regretted.
Since its release in 2012, John Carter has been ripped to shreds by film critiques and reviewers alike; particularly stating how its script was "dry" and "boring", its narration was "terribly weak", how the main action scenes were considered slow, the story line is "derivative" and honestly, that there is a lack of empathy and care towards the main characters. Basically that it is "boring, boring, boring and even more boring!" Even the commanding presence of substantial British actor, Mark Strong couldn't cease this snooze-fest from its proverbial doom.
One save for the colossus boredom, soaked miss-hitting drivel that is John Carter was how it ended. It boldly links the events of the film as the inspiration for Burroughs series. The film's ending is John (Taylor Kitsch) being forcefully brought back to Earth where he begins a quest to search for a Thern who may hold a medallion/key that would allow him to return to Barsoom. After a few years searching for a Thern, John seems to die suddenly, but before his death, leaves clues for an assailant known as Burroughs. These clues give Burroughs access to open John's tomb. However, at the same time, Burroughs is being followed by a Thern who plans to kill him. Both Burroughs and the Thern discover that John's tomb is empty and then suddenly a gun shot is heard and the Thern drops dead after being shot by, you guessed it John Carter, who is actually alive and had to fake his death in order to obtain a medallion. He then asks Burroughs to watch over his tomb where he will remain in a coma-like state. John then whispers into the medallion and is transported back to Barsoom.
Although the ending is a very unique one - it is an isolated bit of genius within a crushingly disappointing film. The questions that arises most of all for those who feel this film is a waste of time, effort and money is; will Disney learn from this? And will they question future spending habits and decision making? Only time will tell...
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