John Carter

[rawsalsa]

Although I thought the pace was rather variable throughout, I really enjoyed this film and so did my two nieces (8 & 9 year olds) who were incredibly quiet watching it & also really liked it.

I'm not sure what to say about the 3D, which in my view wasn't particularly noticeable although the glasses were a bit irritating.

I would definitely watch it again & look forward to future prequels or sequels.

8.5/10

[Beate]

Had to hand our phones in but when I asked whether it was 3D they didn't know! Then they came in after most people had sat down already and announced it was 3D after all and that the glasses were coming, which they had to distribute row by row. They then didn't work at the beginning, it was really weird and felt like you had a blind spot in your view! They halted the film, apologised and promised to sort it out. 10 minutes later it started again, and this time it was fine. I didn't even know that there are different ways of showing 3D until Celini said the other day that her glasses didn't work in one screening.

Nah, watching this once is more than enough. What an uneven film. Starts as a western, turns into a sci-fi on another planet. John Carter of Earth becomes Virginia from Barsoom. Lots of unintentionally hilarious scenes (started giggling when Mark Strong floated through the air at the beginning with his underlings and again when Carter first leaps through the air on Mars). Also quite violent in places, monster dogs get clubbed, Tharks get branded etc. - I saw small kids in our screening! Why? It also annoys me a great deal when in all of these sci-fi films women have to walk around with as little on as possible.
It was also way too long, with at least 3 endings. One would have been enough, but unfortunately it had to tie in with the beginning.
The monster dog was cute though.

6.5/10

[Diane65]

We had to hand in our phones before the screening but there was a man creating a commotion and a massive queue as he didn't want to hand his phone in even the man behind him was trying to reassure him that it was OK, how the security men kept their patience is beyond me I think that I would have had him escorted out.

I quite enjoyed this film even though not my favourite genre but always open to a new experience. 3D effects were very good one of the few films where it has worked so well. 7/10

[redgrant]

There are worse ways to spend a Sunday morning. It was watchable and quite entertaining. At times I did think I was watching a Star Wars spin-off (a planet full of Jar Jar Binks/Tucson Raiders hybrids, big barges and speeder bikes a la Return of the Jedi, the customary arena scene, a dusty Mars/Tatooine etc). Good fun nonetheless

[stuartboy]

Saw this for second time this morning. Today's screening was much darker than yesterday's making the wearing of glasses almost impossible for me. In fact I actually didn't wear them for the whole movie and was able to see where the 3D was and wasn't. It was apparant for most of the landscape shot and shots of large crowds of warriors etc. - the obviously CGI'd stuff, but the foreground scenes and main actors were never 3D meaning it was surprisingly comfortable to watch without glasses.
They didn't bother turning the lights off in Edinburgh until after 10 minutes marjoreeee went and asked them to. Apparantly they had no intentions of "because it was a 3D film"!! What rot! Three cheers for MM though!

Clearly I liked this film else I wouldn't have endured it twice in as many days. Definitely preferred it the first time around but still enjoyable again.

Laugh out loud at the antics of the dog (recurring theme here - think: Uggie - The Artist, Arthur - Beginners), as well as Tars Tarkus cuffing John Carter round the ear for screwing up an attack on the wrong city.


Definite 8/10 and look forward to sequels.

[cinefila1]

At first I thought this was going to be another fiasco screening when the 3D effects did not work. Luckily they sorted it out in almost no time, which was a relief.

The film is clearly aimed at a young audience. Even though it dragged in places and there was too much emphasis in the love story, I must say I enjoyed it. The CGI effects were good and that dog-like creature was adorable.

[alythonian]

I'm going to be controversial. I thought it was a big pile of pants!
Rubbish script, wooden acting.

Good CGI dog thing.

The setting of Lake Powell on the Arizona/Utah border as Mars was interesting and reminded me of my holiday there - that was the best bit.

Sorry, didn't enjoy it and laughed out loud when the polar ape thing had blue blood. Sorry!!

2/10 and that was for the scenery!

[weliveandbreathewords]

Had to hand in phones again today, film was a tiny bit better than the first time round (caught bits I missed the first time) .

Realised how much I want that god dam monster dog xD

Unfortunately though if I was rating Id have to knock it down purely because I had the rudest and most irritating people sat next to me, which is by far my worst experience.
First they asked us to move so they could sit together(there were plenty of seats 'together' still available but they wanted to sit in the middle clearly)
Second, they had one bag of popcorn, between 3, instantly knew this meant a lot of passing around, which they proceeded to do, to my rustling dismay, I asked if they could keep it down, I received the response, " Its a paper bag its going to be loud." (WHY THE F*** BRING IT IN THEN??)
Then they had packets of sweets, which were louder than the popcorn which they passed round, didnt bother saying something this time.
And about 10 minutes in, the running commentary started.
Run mate Run! Dont just stand there!
Aww man that's siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick(yes he did go on like that)

Asked him if he could be quiet 'please' just got dirty looks.
Was quiet for about 10 mins when he started again.
So I said, " Please could you quiet down."
And got the "What the f*** is your problem ya d***head?"

Didnt bother after that.

" Im sorry but if I wanted a running commentary and added sound effects I would have watched the subtitled version and special features on the dvd once it come out, I dont understand people who cant shut up during afilm" is what I inadvertedly said to my dad whilst they were packing up, hmph.

[sikmansam]

Saw this at West India Quays and, like others have said, had to hand in both my phone and camera. The film was enjoyable enough but i must concede that it was incredibly cheesy and full of plot holes. Did love that adorable dog/monster/thing though! 7/10, review coming soon enough

[kevinknapman]

Well yesterday's build-up to the screening didn't exactly put me in the best mood. No problem with giving my phone in (even if it makes no sense) but an over-eager security guy really pissed me off. Said he had to search my bag, which is fair enough, but then proceeded to take my bag of my shoulder without even asking. Which is pretty bloody rude if you ask me. Told him not to do it, he didn't have a reply to that. Also wasn't aware of the 11 start time, so was pretty bored and tired after having to wait almost 50 mins.

As for the film itself I found it a little disappointing. Mainly because I'd heard very positive word from quite a few people beforehand.
In the end I found it ended up meeting the expectations that the rather uninspired marketing campaign had given me.
There was plenty to like about it though. Taylor Kitsch made an effective action-hero lead, the voice-over work from Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton and Thomas Haden Church was very strong and Spy Kids' Daryl Sabara was a likeably nerdy Edgar Rice Burroughs. The special effects were mostly impressive with the creature design of the Tharks a definite stand-out. There were also several thrilling set pieces littered throughout. The scene where John Carter fights aliens almost singlehanded while flashbacks to his past intercut the action was particularly impressive.

Sadly the film also had a few too many dull patches for my liking and there were moments where it dragged. The film could also have done with having a slightly more consistent tone. While I appreciated the occasional touches of humour (the aforementioned cuff round the head that Tars Tarkas gives John Carter being a highlight, as well as his attempts to escape at the beginning), there were several po-faced scenes where a little humour would have been welcome. Especially most of the scenes where human actors played aliens. Actors like Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West and James Purefoy just took it all a little too seriously and the film suffered as a result.
The dialogue was also very clunky at times ('But I am a regent at the Royal Helium Academy of science' is a line that should never have made it to the screen in my opinion).

I'd be interested in seeing it again, just because I was fairly tired by the time the film actually started. That the film itself was in 3D making it darker than it should be probably didn't help either. As it stands I thought it was okay but could have been a lot better.