I did what I used to do in college last night and went to the midnight showing of John Carter. I read the books this movie was based on my Junior year and had been hoping this movie would be made sometime in the near future. The movie takes you on quite the ride!

As typically happens with book adaptations, there were many parts of the movie that were different, and I don’t think all the changes were great. This book essentially tried to piece together all the parts from the first 3 books of the series which often felt rushed and incoherent. The story itself is a great idea: a man is magically transported to Mars from Earth where he has super human strength because of the difference in gravitational pull and finds himself immersed in a war between the different nations and falls in love with the princess…of Mars. Graphically the movie was incredible (I’d expect nothing less from Andrew Stanton, director of Wall-E). I saw it in 3-D and felt completely immersed in the world of Mars. However, the story felt too rushed like they tried to fit too many pieces into this one movie. For those who haven’t read the book I could see it being very frustrating because there isn’t a lot of help about what is going on in the story.

A theme through the movie is the changing of heart/redemption of John Carter. At the beginning of the movie we see that he is selfish and unwilling to help anyone but himself. Through the course of the movie we learn why, and get to see his change of heart to one who is willing to lay down his life for others (sound familiar?).

This movie is rated PG-13 and does have some violent scenes as well as a couple bad words. I’d suggest seeing it with those that are 14 and up. It definitely is a fun movie to watch, despite some of the plot holes and rushed pace.