I wrote my review of John Carter yesterday and told everyone to just please, for the love of all things good and beautiful, ignore the critics who seem inexplicably determined to strangle the movie in its crib.
Mark Hughes has a brilliant defense of the film as well, arguing that the movie is a throwback to the good old days of high adventure films:
But what it most reminds me of are those great classic matinee adventures like Jason and the Argonauts — big, bright adventures with wild monsters and brave armies, heroes and heroines who run and jump and kiss while we grin like kids at the sheer fun of it all. There was a time when not every movie tried to be some cliched “dark and gritty” version of itself, and when critics and audiences went to movies to laugh and cheer and have grand ol’ fun getting entertained by movies that worked hard to give you your buck’s worth for two hours.
And that’s what John Carter is — an old fashioned matinee adventure. It’s Tarzan and Flash Gordon, it’s The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Star Wars. It’s a mixture of barbarian-like ancient technology and weird heavy machinery, it’s swords and flying ships, it’s cowboys and space travel.
This is pitch perfect. I like dark and gritty as much as the next guy, but I also love movies that don’t pretend to be anything but themselves. Occasionally, I want to just sink comfortably into the adventure.
John Carter does this mastefully. It’s the sort of movie that we don’t see all that often. There’s some Indiana Jones in there, and some Star Wars, too. It’s fun, and it avoids many of the mistakes and shortcomings of other big blockbusters.
It’s not dark and violent like many of the big summer blockbusters. It doesn’t try to be edgy. It’s ambitious and exciting without being just another Trasnformers.
As Mark points out:
If you love those old matinee adventures, if you have fond feelings for Jason and the Argonauts, and if you still enjoy going to the movies to be transported to another world for loads of fun, some good laughs, and plenty of grand special effects, then you’re going to be highly entertained by John Carter. There’s already more than enough in this world to be cynical about — just sit back and let yourself have a good time for a little while. It’s worth it, and it’s far more fun than looking for excuses to frown.
Sometimes, fun is all you need.
We won’t have to wait long for The Hunger Games after all – speaking of cynical, dark and gritty. It’s next on my science fiction and fantasy movies list.
