Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

John Carter
2012
**
Director: Andrew Stanton
Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Willem Dafoe

John Carter, a Civil War veteran from Virginia, is miraculously transported to Mars (or Barsoom in the local lingo) which is at war. The planet's gravitational characteristics give him superhuman strength and agility, which comes in handy when he helps Dejah Thoris, the Princess of Helium, who has become a pawn in a planetary conflict. In 1912, A Princess of Mars, the first book in Edgar Rice Burroughs' science fiction series came out. In 2012, the big screen adaptation finally hits the screens. The book's fantastical premise may have been original 100 years ago, but in the intervening years we've seen all possible permutations of this same story. Andrew Stanton, the man behind the brilliant Finding Nemo and Wall-E makes his live action debut, but he cannot breathe life into this material. His film is a somewhat likeable but instantly forgettable scifi action blockbuster.