John Carter Review

John Carter used to be called John Carter of Mars, which is an obviously better title. It’s considerably more evocative, it intrigues those who are already aware of the character and those who are not equally and finally it doesn’t sound like a film that might possibly be about an accountant or something. I hate film titles that are simply a non-descript name. Recent and upcoming weeks feature the releases ofLaura and Michael. Rubbish! Others that spring to mind are Larry Crowne, Cyrus, Michael Clayton and Amélie. These titles tell us nothing about the film, other than the gender of the protagonist. It’s a bug bear of mine and probably pretty petty, but still, why you’d go for boring old John Carter over John Carter… of MARS! is beyond me.

Fortunately, that has no actual bearing on the quality of the film. John Carter is the live action debut of Pixar whizz-kid Andrew Stanton, based on the sci-fi and fantasy novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs he loved as a child. Carter is an American Civil War veteran who is whisked away to Mars via otherworldly magic/technology. There, he uses his newfound super jumping ability to fight for and against the various warring factions on Mars, forge relationships with four-armed aliens and win the heart of a conveniently human princess of Mars.

Whilst it is far from perfect, to call John Carter a magnificent failure seems overly harsh. It’s more of a really rough diamond. It has numerous flaws but it matches each of them with its no less numerous charms, its invention and visual grandeur.

Those flaws then; rather than focussing on Carter from the start, allowing the audience to view the strange world of Mars through his eyes, it opens with some pretty hardcore gobbledygook exposition, which will be a pretty sure-fire turnoff for many viewers. Also confusing is the fact that whilst the film feels way too long (it takes ages to get to Mars proper), it also feels like it’s been pretty severely edited at the cost of smoothness of narrative and clarity of plot. There are also substantial inconsistencies between time and space in the film – sometimes journeys between the three or four main locations in which the action takes place seem to take days, sometimes hours. These locations also seem fairly arbitrary and it’s sometimes difficult to follow who’s doing what, where and why. Characters also seem to change their allegiances and motivations very quickly, making it occasionally difficult to root for them. Throw in a bit of occasionally dodgy writing and acting and a few less than great special effects (about standard for the average blockbuster) and you’ve got a bit of hodgepodge.

But fear not! In spite of all of those issues, John Carter is still a very watchable and often very enjoyable film. Its meta framing device (which involves Burroughs as a character) is quite clever. Its production design and general aesthetic is often gorgeous. Lead actors Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins are a cute couple and are ably supported by the rest of the cast which impressively includes (take a breath) Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Thomas Hayden Church, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Bryan Cranston, Mark Strong and personal favourite Daryl Sabara (from World’s Greatest Dad) as Burroughs. Woof.

The action sequences are handled deftly and tastefully (in particular, the one where Carter takes on an alien horde singlehandedly intercut with tragic flashbacks) and there’s a pleasing amount of humour in the film too. The emotional finale, though rushed, is both bittersweet and uplifting.

Throughout all of this, Stanton brings a strange sort of humanism to his film. There’s real heart and soul in the thing and the love the director has for the character shows on screen. As his fellow Pixar luminary Brad Bird did with his live action debut Mission Impossible 4, Stanton brings real likability to a concept which on paper comes across as so much hokum. For that he should be applauded and his film, though he will surely better it in the future, celebrated.

Contagion Review

An unknown, highly communicable and very deadly disease spreads across the globe. Millions are dying. Scientists are baffled. Governments cannot control its spread nor provide adequate protection for the uninfected. Society begins to break down. People start looting supermarkets and hording food. In the back of your mind you think,perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to start stocking up on tinned goods. It’s for this reason you know Contagion works, at least on a basic level. It generates thought, it provokes discussion, it makes you think.

Steven Soderbergh directs an impressive ensemble cast: Gwyneth Paltrow is Patient Zero, Matt Damon is Immune Husband, Laurence Fishburne is the Doctor from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Kate Winslet is his Doctor in the Field, Jude Law is Paranoid Blogger, Elliot Gould is Another Doctor, Marion Cottilard is Yet Another Doctor and Bryan Cranston is Token Army Dude. There’s others too. Of course the problem with having such a start-heavy cast is that you’re constantly thinking,oh that’s him from that thing! And she’s that woman out of so-and-so and bits of the film can slip past you. In short, it can be a little distracting.

Most of these characters get their own narrative thread, in which we see how they deal with the outbreak, which is picked up and put aside in a fluid and smart manner. Despite the transitions between the plotlines being smooth, however, that’s not to say that each is as strong as the next one. Matt Damon is always highly watchable (and arguably one of the best actors of his generation) as he strives to protect his young daughter and the scenes at CDC, where we learn about the science and procedures concerned with outbreaks, are riveting. Jude Law’s plot though, feels muddled are unsure of what point it is trying to get across. Are the government bad? Are the conspiracy theorists just as bad? Who knows? Who cares? Most annoying about Law’s character and by turn his arc, is that whilst he feels free to criticise the government’s handling of the crisis, he offers nothing in the way of an alternative. This is a shame as much more could have been done with this strand of the story. Similarly, Marion Cottilard’s parts start promisingly enough, as she attempts to locate the source of the outbreak, but unfortunately take a turn for silliness, which is otherwise admirably absent in this highly naturalistic film.

Other than that, Contagion is a solid and enjoyable feature. Attention to detail is impressive as is the restraint with which Soderbergh directs proceedings. There are no explosions or shoot-outs, just a hefty dose of realism. Cliff Martinez’s score is very good too. It may be overly reminiscent of films that have trod a similar path before it and it may not stand amongst 2011’s most memorable and impressive films, but it is an enjoyable and absorbing watch. Contagion’s greatest strength is reminding us how easily the tacit bonds of trust that keeps society going are broken – something even more resonant in this post-riots landscape. Its greatest weakness is having a tagline that sounds as those it’s advertising a particularly sinister brand of margarine: nothing spreads like fear.