hasekamp

OK. I'll do it the other way around as on another movie site: The movie is nice to watch and the visual effects are good. Hence a 7. BUT I cannot understand why the infamous Hollywood script writers had to change so much compared to the book. Now we are left with a story in which hardly anything is being explained: How can John Carter understand the Martians? How do the Martians live (especially the green Tharks)? What kind of a person ("creature") is Dejah Thoris? How are her thoughts about John Carter? Why do the Heliumites live so different from the Tharks? How is it possible that on Mars there is air, so that life is possible at all there? These and many, many other questions remain unanswered. All these questions are being answered in the book. Now, why has this information been omitted from the script? Also the interesting relationship between John Carter and Tars Tarkas remains a closed book (Why and how do they change from enemies to close friends?). What remains is a state-of-the-art movie with lots of action, that is a feast for the eye, but in which much of the background remains unclear. After writing all this, I have changed my vote to a six. It is such a shame that the real story remains untold.

This movie, though very entertaining (hence my 7 out of 10) looks as if it a pre-release of "The Da Vinci Code". So many elements have been taken from Dan Brown's bestseller, that most of the plot felt familiar to me, having read (as we all have) the Dan Brown book. The main difference is that not ancient documents from biblical times are the basis for all the action, but the a more recent document. Furthermore there are so many parallels (the running from one clue to another, the Freemasons, the vaults beneath churches etc.) that it looks as if Disney wanted to pick some of the credit of Dan Brown, while he still could, before the movie of the Da Vinci Code is among us.

This movie shows us that not showing, but at most suggesting, violence makes a movie more powerful. It takes a great director and producer to decide to skip all violence from the movie. And this one shows how much stronger it gets. Thre is suspense and tension from the first to the last minute. The atmosphere in which the illegal foreigners in London have to live is pictured very well and is completely believable. The acting is - as we can expect from a British movie - more than excellent and extremely natural. Is the plot flawless? I suppose not, but the above element makes us forgive this. A 10 out of 10 is the only reasonable judgment.