Praise for John Carter

I just saw John Carter along with my father and son. We all loved it. The quality of the production is right there with Star Wars. The story line is excellent, and very close to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ original. In contrast to dozens of recent action films I’ve basically disliked for their excess of what I call “slam bang,” this movie had quite a few redeeming moments of humanity. At its heart, the pivotal transformation of John Carter from uncaring vagabond to invincible hero in his sword battle with a thousand green warriors is unparalleled in recent film history. The notion that the loss of his first wife fuels his conquest of an army, is, well, biblical, like Sampson, or mythic, like Jason. Never in any film until now, have I felt myself getting a little dewy eyed during a battle scene — but this movie got that reaction. Interweaving scenes of his present battle and his memories of his past greatest loss made me truly believe that even a mild mannered Jasoomian like me could rise to impossible feats if given the proper incentives of a murdered sweetheart and the desire to save a new love’s life. Top flight adventure stuff. And did I mention that the special effects and production quality were easily as good as Star Wars? Oh, yeah, I think I did.