John Carter

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John Carter

PG-13

Released Mar 9, 2012

2h 12m

Sci-Fi

Action

Adventure

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

52%

Tomatometer

236 Reviews

60%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

When Civil War veteran John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) mysteriously awakes on the surface of Mars -- also called Barsoom -- he little expects the adventure that awaits him. Carter reluctantly becomes embroiled in an epic conflict among the red planet's inhabitants, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). As Barsoom is poised on the brink of collapse, war-weary Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that everyone's fate is in his hands.

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Critics Consensus

While John Carter looks terrific and delivers its share of pulpy thrills, it also suffers from uneven pacing and occasionally incomprehensible plotting and characterization.

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J. Hoberman

ARTINFO.com

For the most part, the first "live action" feature by Andrew Stanton, is graphically splendiferous and enjoyably nonsensical.

Feb 25, 2019

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Matt Singer

ScreenCrush

Isn't the disaster some industry observers predicted, but it's not the high-gloss masterpiece some of us hoped for either.

Rated: 5/10

Apr 5, 2012

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David Denby

The New Yorker

A mess.

Mar 26, 2012

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

John rides a rhino into battle, fights great white apes in the arena, and leaps great distances like Superman in the early, original comic books.

Sep 22, 2024

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

It’s watchable and, at times, an enjoyable film, just not wowing or immediately satisfying in the way so many of Burroughs’ readers had hoped it would be.

Rated: 2.5/4

Feb 22, 2023

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David Bax

Battleship Pretension

John Carter is a good summer movie in March but, with the exception of that one fleeting segment, it's not a great movie at any time of year.

Mar 16, 2021

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Audience Member

Failed marketing and a no name star are the main negative critiques on this movie. I don't get why everyone thinks it's a crap movie. You sit down and are entertained through the whole movie. There aren't any noticeable drag points or off putting scenes. While far fetched it most certainly embodies and screams sci-fi to me. Who hasn't gone to bed as a kid and wondered what it would be like to stumble into a portal to another world where gravity makes you different from your normal world, Been a awhile since I have seen it I think I will re-watch and update my review. Some old movies just don't have what it takes to transcend 20+ years etc.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/25

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B B

Great movie - interesting concept, good acting, and entertaining.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/25/25

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Roger L

I didn’t give it much thought at first when this first came out. Likely because it just looked a bit too silly but something compelled me many years later to give it a go. I thoroughly enjoyed this peculiar and engaging adventure from beginning to end. The writing and direction were pretty wonderful as one impossible situation led to the next. Often funny and surprisingly well defined characters, despite the minimal dialogue, drove the action pretty well. It was very much a family oriented, adventure, and for that style, I think they did a great job sketching in darker themes for adults while keeping the action going for children and the kids at heart.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/25

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Joshua M

Doesn't deserve the hate it gets I enjoyed it!!!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/10/25

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Marc S

Erm, we know what is on Mars today, so who had the idea to adapt this in the 2010s? Silly. Couldn’t get engaged one bit and didn’t finish, and I am sci-fi fan and wanted to like it.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/05/25

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Audience Member

Very surprised. I had always heard this was a bad movie. I enjoyed it very much! Maybe not expecting much helped but it’s got a bit of everything in it. Great action and the story is strong enough to make it worth a watch. I recommend for any sci-fi fan.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/24/24

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Andrew Stanton

Director

Taylor Kitsch

John Carter

Lynn Collins

Princess Dejah Thoris

Willem Dafoe

Tars Tarkas

Samantha Morton

Sola

Ciarán Hinds

Tardos Mors

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Synopsis

When Civil War veteran John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) mysteriously awakes on the surface of Mars -- also called Barsoom -- he little expects the adventure that awaits him. Carter reluctantly becomes embroiled in an epic conflict among the red planet's inhabitants, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). As Barsoom is poised on the brink of collapse, war-weary Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that everyone's fate is in his hands.

Director: Andrew Stanton
Producer: Jim Morris, Colin Wilson, Lindsey Collins
Screenwriter: Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews, Michael Chabon
Distributor: Walt Disney
Production Co: Walt Disney Studios
Rating: PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Violence|Intense Sequences of Action)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 9, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $73.1M
Runtime: 2h 12m

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