John Carter

Though I am not a science fiction fan, I will admit that it does have its appeals. When I heard about John Carter, at first I will admit, I was skeptical, due to the fact it looked like an Avatar rip-off. However, that may not be the case with this movie, though it does bear a striking resemblance to several other movies that I have seen.

Our story begins with Edgar inheriting his uncle's, John Carter, journal that was left to him after Carter's death. The journal then explains in great detail about John's adventures about a mysterious world and how he got there. He was a confederate soldier in 1861, and got held hostage by the Union to fight for them, and though he refuses, he does try to make peace. While negotiations go wrong, he then finds a cave of gold, and there a man just pops out of nowhere, and John shoots him, and when he grabs the medalion, he is transported to a mysterious world caled Barsoom, which we learn later is Mars. Due to lower gravitational pull on Mars than there is on Earth, he can jump to extraordinary heights, and he is hailed as one of the strongest by the local aliens, the Tharks. While on Mars, he tries to stop the marriage between Dejah Thoris, and Sab Than, the tyranical prince of Zondanga, the state warring with Helium, the state of which Dejah Thoris is from. All the while, he is still looking for a way back home.

I'll be the first to admit, I thought that this was going to be like Avatar, though once the movie started I had Cowboys and Aliens in mind, due the fact it was set in the Midwest at first, and there were going to be aliens, however, once he got to Mars, it reminded me of something that you would see in Star Wars or Avatar, though the planet in this case was not as colorful as Pandora. However, the movie had its own charm and flare to it. The technology was handled well, along with the design of the city and the world its self.

The characters in my mind were a bit developed in the right and wrong places. John Carter was a bit bland in my mind, though being a Confederate soldier and the people on the planet were not that well defined. In fact, at a point, only John Carter, the Thern, and the princess were distinguishable. The Tharks all looked the same, to tell the truth, and even though they made four arms look plausible, it still looked a bit weird in my mind. The Thern was another character that I think needs to be explained a bit more, and the theory of how the people and animals got on the planet should have been explained more.

Another problem I have with this movie is repetition in jokes and even actions. John always tries repeatedly to escape from the people who have captured him, and it always it the same attempt: jumping or brute force. Also, the Tharks, they keep calling him "Virginia" because he introduces him self from being from there, and they fail to get that is not his name. While I find a bit humorous, as being from Virginia, and nothing brings me greater joy than to hear my home state mentioned in a movie, they over did it. Just call him "John Carter" and leave it at that. They also seem to repeat a lot on the fact that he can jump super high, even exaggerating it a bit much.

The scenery in the movie, I will give credit to being actually pretty good. The IMAX made it better, but they do need to work on distance lighting and getting everything in focus to make it 3D. (Turn up aperture!!) There was definitely depth to the picture, and there were layers to the scenes, i.e. the characters stood out from the background, but it just felt lacking in the 3D aspect. Granted, it didn't make me sick like Avatar did, but the motion scenes felt like they were not that compatible with the 3D.

A minor note I would like to bring up is the fact that Disney made the film. While I still associate Disney handling animated films, such as The Little Mermaid, or Snow White, they also produced Pirates of the Carribean. I do think this is one of their weaker films, but it still a good attempt at a sci-fi film.

Overall, for science fiction fans, this is probably going to be one of the biggest films of the year, besides Iron Sky. I think Disney did a good job handling the film overall. Though I do smell sequels to this film if does does well enough, because I feel like they did not explain all that much about Mars or the people on it. Hopefully, this film can get the sequels needed for explanation, though that could potentially ruin it I have to admit. SO, have fun on Mars, and take an adventure.

The Adventures of Tintin

We have all wanted to go on a grand a grand adventure in our lives, whether it be to the jungle, or perhaps a trip on the high seas. Sometimes, we take these trips willingly, with lots and lots of planning, or we take them as due to circumstances. Tintin, a boy and grad adventurer embarks on a journey, a journey of epic proportions.

Tintin is a reporter in Great Britain, and his dog Snowy, embark on a grand adventure after Tintin buys a model boat of the Unicorn, a legendary ship that sunk mysteriously. After he buys it, people are drawn to the ship, offering him double what he paid for originally or naming his own price. He refuses offer takes home, and while Snowy was chasing a stray cat, the ship topples over, breaking the middle mast. After he and Snowy return from another errand, the ship goes missing. Snowy points out a silver tube that had fallen behind the dresser when the ship broke, and in the tube was a piece of paper. A little while later, he goes to see the old abandoned manor, where he sees the ship that had broken, though this ship seemed to be in one piece. It is deduced that the Captain Francis Haddock, the original captain of the ship made three copies of the ship. In his quest to find the treasure rumored to be with the ship, he recruits the help of Captain Francis Haddock's descendant, Captain Haddock,in order to solve the mystery behind the ships and to find the treasure!

The first thing I must say about this movie is that you must go see it in Imax 3D. I had the pleasure of doing so, and the effects in the movie were amazing. At some points, I felt as though I was there, even though it was an animated movie. the dust particles moving around in front of me, the waves almost being able to reach me, and the sand could have been played in if i took a few steps towards the screen, were all thrills of the movie. The layer sof the scenes was also very well done, like Tintin was distinct from the surroundings, and everything was layered properly. Although usually I do not watch 3D, this movie was well worth it to go see it in 3D.

The story of Tintin in my mind could be divided into two parts: The main course which was Tintin and Haddock's adventure for the ships, but also about the local pickpocket. The main story was interesting, due to the fact that they keep going after these clues to the treasure. It had wit, action,and even a few jokes and sayings, such as "It only took a day in the Sahara to make you sober," or "I'm not optimist, I'm a realist," made me laugh and realize that the latter was an application to some of my views in life. The second, and perhaps sort of side story, was the two policemen, Thomson and Thompson, trying to catch a local pickpocket, who had been stealing everyone's wallets. The two police men are actually the source of comic relief in the movie when Captain Haddock's drinking problem fails.

The voice acting was superb in the movie. Captain Haddock's voice fit his character very well, as well as Tintin's. Their adversary, Sakharine, was voiced by the one and only James Bond,Daniel Craig, though I had a hard time recognizing the voice at first. But for the other characters, the voice acting was also superb.

As for the art of the movie, sometimes I started to question if was animated or not. The eyes for the characters were very well detailed, and the people looked natural, save for the noses. Those noses were unnatural, and kind of hideous if you ask me. But the sceneries and the effects in the animation was superb, especially in 3D as I have said before.

The movie was an excellent watch, and well worth the money to see in Imax 3D. If you can and are able to watch 3D, I recommend it highly, and it is a good family film.