John Carter
Setting
John Carter takes place in post-Civil War Earth, but the majority of the story takes place on Mars. On Mars in this world, there are human-type people and martians, known as Tharks, who are tall, green, and have tusks and four arms. There is also a race known as the Thurns. The Thurns control the power of a mysterious energy source known as the ninth ray.
Summary
On Mars, or Barsoom, there is a war going on. The mobile city of Zodanga is at war with the city of Helium. The Thurns have taken the side of Zodanga and their king, Sab Than. This has given the power of the Ninth Ray, which makes Zodanga near unstoppable. To halt the onslaught of Zodanga, the general of Helium has agreed to marry off his daughter, Princess Dejah Thoris, to Sab Than. Meanwhile on Earth, John Carter is a treasure hunter, looking for a cave of gold. While looking, he comes across a Thurn and is accidentally transported to Mars. Carter discovers that while on Mars, he is much stronger than others on Mars, able to punch harder and jump higher. Carter soon gets himself into the center of the Martian conflict, trying to save Dejah from the marriage and save Helium from destruction.
Characters
John Carter
John Carter is an interesting character. At the beginning of the movie, he is a treasure hunter, not wanting to get involved with the conflicts of others, namely between the United States and the Apache. John Carter develops well, changing from an indifferent man, looking out for his own good, into a man who cares enough to try to save the princess and Helium. This movie does a good job at developing its main character.
Dejah Thoris
Dejah Thoris is the princess of Helium. She is smart and comes close to discovering the power of the ninth ray, and would have if not for Thurn sabotage. She is a less interesting character, whose motives include not getting married to Sab Than, discovering the mysteries of the ninth ray, and saving Helium from destruction.
Tars Tarkas
Tars Tarkas is the leader of the Tharks, a once-great power of Mars. Tarkas is more interesting than he looks at first glance. He is the one who spares John Carter's life multiple times within the movie. He sees something in Carter that other Tharks do not. He sees Carter as a symbol of change. He hopes for change within his traditional tribal culture and change so that the Tharks can once more become a great nation.
Sola
Sola is the daughter of Tars Tarkas. She is shamed for messing up and making mistakes many times. She has led to so many mistakes that she has to run away from the Thark tribe with Carter and Dejah to avoid death.
Matai Shang
Matai Shang is the leader of the Thurns, who are the controllers of the Ninth Ray and the so-called messengers of the great Goddess. The job of Shang is to make sure that the Ninth ray is not discovered where the Thurns do not want it to be and that it stays as a mysterious force to be feared. To do this, the Thurns give the Ninth Ray only to arrogant warlords who would only use the Ray for destruction.
Sab Than
Sab Than is the arrogant warlord referred to in the above section of the article.
Conclusion
John Carter was, overall, a very good movie. It was interesting and I enjoyed it. It would probably have kept my mom awake in a movie theatre, which is saying a lot. I think that the problem that John Carter had in the box office was that it had too small of a fan base and too small of an advertising scheme to get people interested in the movie. Nine stars out of eleven.
