I didn't think the decap scene was anti-climatic at all.
Tal Hajus was an antagonist but not necessarily a villain.
He was more like a bully or in another sense, an annoying fly that just needed to be swatted.
I mean, I saw the comparison to Jango Fett's beheading & that wasn't drawn out either to be an effective & powerful scene.
Seeing Tal Hajus's head fall to the ground was like seeing a basketball fall into the hoop. The actual sequence may be anti-climatic to watch but the end result in scoring victorious is what matters.
My only minor gripe was the inconsistencies to John's powers on Mars. [SPOILER - highlight to read]: He was able to kill a Thark with one punch but punching the Red Men only seemed to knock them unconscious. His sword fights against the Tharks was almost Godlike & then becomes nothing extraordinary one on one against the Red Men...
Last edited by Esau Cairn on Mar 13th, 2012 at 01:22 AM
And in regards to this: Yeah, it's fine if you're 12 years old and shouldn't be seeing excessive violence on TV and in movies, but I'm much older than that and I like to see violence in movies because it provides a catharsis of sorts and satisfies my primitive blood-lust.
Hmm... I didn't even notice or think of that. That certainly is strange, because the Tharks are like 9 feet tall. I'll be looking for that next time I watch it. Another thing: if he's on Mars for 10 years, wouldn't his muscles atrophy after a while and he would eventually be less than spectacular compared to everyone else?
I didn't mind the arena sequence being so far into the film....
It's so hard not to compare John Carter to other movies but like Gladiator, I felt there was too much scenes in the arena (though obviously warranted for)....so John Carter "eventually" ending up in the arena, already established as a hero was much better for me, then having to prove himself at the beginning of the film..in the arena.
Although the Tharks calling him a "Baby White Ape" was an odd insult considering when you see how huge & powerful they were...
We'll see what happens by the second weekend, if that big spike last Saturday means anything and carries it through the week. One interesting thing both Titanic and Avatar had in common (besides James Cameron) - neither set any opening weekend records, with grosses that were good but not great. But both continued to gross the same amount for weeks, even months in a row. It was a slow but steady push to claiming the modern box office crown for both.
John Carter won't get close to that. But if has a steady performance for a while and hits minimum targets in North America (which means crossing $100 million domestically) and continues to do huge business elsewhere in the world, then there is hope for the series to continue.
It's not bombing like Green Lantern did; in one weekend it's already earned half of that film's overall gross. But success on the level of Clash Of The Titans or Troy still is possible; it was the huge overseas numbers that befitted those films.
__________________
"I'm not smart so much as I am not dumb." - Harlan Ellison
That's an interesting point, roughrider. I didn't know that about Avatar and Titanic. But another advantage those movies had was that lots of crazy people went to see them multiple times. We shall see... sometimes the world is depressing, cuz bullshit like THIS makes $700 million.
Maybe my standards are higher, cuz I don't think she really looks all that good. With better makeup and clothing she can look a lot better. But she's average looking at best, to me. Disappointing casting in my opinion. I guess they might have wanted the audience to believe that she could be a scientist... haha
I just got back from seeing it the second time. Now being free of having to figure out and follow the plotting, I could see many more details. It definitely gains on repeated viewings. I even spotted Jon Favreau's cameo as a Thark bookie ("You lost your bet" he tells Tal Hajus)
I realize Dejah thought John transported back to Earth after their meeting in Zodanga. And the placement of the arena sequence makes sense now, as the culmination of John's acceptance of his role as the saviour of Dejah, Helium, the Tharks and Barsoom itself. Emotionally, it wouldn't have worked as well if it happened earlier. Just as his stance against the Thark horde earlier was a step towards it.
I think i realized why my expectations were so high...
I read the first couple chapters of the first book again, and there's just no way anyone can do this writing justice. It's such excellent writing. By its very nature, any film adaptation is going to be a completely different experience. Disney or anybody would have an extremely difficult time doing it justice. However, Disney hardly would have been my first choice... but oh well..
KMC Community Forums
Mar 13th, 2012 01:02 AM
Attachment: 
