Dear Reader: Update, Movie Review Intelligence will
continue publishing this website through June (more...)
Search a Movie:
JOHN CARTERMovie Reviews
Action adventure sci-fier about a former military captain who is inexplicably transported to another planet, where he becomes involved in an epic conflict among the inhabitants. Cast:Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Samantha MortonDirector:Andrew StantonRelease Date:March 9, 2012DVD Release:June 5, 2012From:Walt Disney PicturesRating:PG-13Length:1 hr 34 minIn 3D
John Carter played to fair reviews. Reviews were mixed. • Tom Long wrote in the Detroit News, "...a huge bore.... one of those films in which a whole lot of nothing that matters goes on in very big ways. If this sounds appealing, have at it." • And Claudia Puig wrote in USA Today, "...ambitious... also bloated... It's tedious even during its frantic action scenes..." More Reviews Below...
John Carter Positive Reviews (52 Reviews, reviews below)
Richard Corliss, Time: WEAK "...the movie has trouble soaring.... it's rarely involving.... has some zesty set pieces but no rooting interest.... It strains for an emotion it hasn't earned."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,133 words, 03/09/12
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: WEAK(cg) "Yes, there is life on Mars in 'John Carter,' and it's deadly dull.... a soulless sprawl of computer-generated blippery converted to 3-D."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 653 words, 03/08/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...mildly entertaining, old-school... exerts the pull of a tall tale told by a campfire.... it's built on something rare: wonder instead of Hollywood cynicism."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 407 words, 03/16/12
Claudia Puig, USA Today: MODERATE(cg) "...ambitious... also bloated... It's tedious even during its frantic action scenes, many of which also involve computer-generation and performance-capture technology."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 487 words, 03/09/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Does 'John Carter' get the job done for the weekend action audience? Yes, I suppose it does.... Lynn Collins makes a terrific heroine."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 815 words, 03/09/12
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: EXCELLENT(cg) "...does epic not-quite-pulp sci-fi adventure properly.... this is the first movie of its kind in a very long time that I'd willingly sit through a second or even third time."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 887 words, 03/06/12
get our iPhone app... or get our mobile web app...
movie review intelligence
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (14 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "Messy and chaotic... but also colorful and kind of fun.... The silliness -- much of which is clearly intentional -- is blended with some genuine grandeur."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 731 words, 03/09/12
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...while 'John Carter' is undeniably silly, sprawling and easy to make fun of, it's also playful, genuinely epic and absolutely comfortable being what it is."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 480 words, 03/09/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "Stanton never finds his footing.... 'John Carter' is in serious need of someone, something, to really root for other than this two-hour-plus film to finally end."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 850 words, 03/08/12
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: POOR(cg) "Interminably long, dull and incomprehensible... evokes pretty much every sci-fi classic from the past 50 years without having any real personality of its own."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 662 words, 03/09/12
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: WEAK "There's no wonder or elation or even dopey sincerity here -- just a high level of proficiency and, yes, a lot of expensive CGI. Hence the impulse to review the budget."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,038 words, 03/12/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Does 'John Carter' get the job done for the weekend action audience? Yes, I suppose it does.... Lynn Collins makes a terrific heroine."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 815 words, 03/09/12
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "The achievement of 'John Carter' is that it takes the elements worn to nubs by everything from 'Star Wars' to 'Avatar' to TV's 'Fringe' and makes them fresh again."(See all of Mark Holcomb's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 310 words, 03/14/12
Josep Parera, La Opinion: FAIR(cg) "...abruma con excesivos argumentos paralelos, y confunde con una mezcla de personajes y objetivos que reducen al héroe protagonista en una mera comparsa..."(See all of Josep Parera's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 478 words, 03/09/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Andrew Stanton's transition from animation to live action isn't quite as elegant as his Pixar colleague Brad Bird's was with 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.' "(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 188 words, 03/08/12
KEY CITIES (13 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: POOR(cg) "The creatures that Carter befriends look like they were conceived after consulting the wadded up sketches in George Lucas's wastebasket."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 516 words, 03/09/12
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a sword-and-sandals spectacle infused with retro sci-fi beasts and blarney. It would have made a great Technicolor treat in the 1950s..."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 457 words, 03/09/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: POOR(cg) "In place of clearly defined characters, streamlined storytelling and rising action, we get a barrage of massive, inconsequential battle scenes."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 795 words, 03/09/12
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: MODERATE(cg) "...the movie never really comes together. It feels like a mishmash of styles and other films... It's all too much, and it's too hard to follow."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 600 words, 03/09/12
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: VERY GOOD(cg) "...captivating enough, detailed enough, Saturday-afternoon-silly enough to bring out the kid in you one more time. Better yet, to make it feel like the first time."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 905 words, 03/09/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Certainly the action sequences are terrific... But whenever the fighting stops and two people have to stand and talk, all the air goes out of everything."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 573 words, 03/09/12
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: POOR(cg) "...a movie designed to be long, epic and in 3-D, but that's as far as the design goes. It's designed to be a product, and it's a flimsy one."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 627 words, 03/09/12
Soren Andersen, Seattle Times: WEAK(cg) "...a cheesy looking (the 3-D adds nothing to the picture) quasi-epic filled with dullish characters and chaotically staged action scenes."(See all of Soren Andersen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 428 words, 03/09/12
Mike Russell, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "...overpowering, joyously unhinged pulp.... too wickedly strange not to recommend. Movies this expensive usually play it much safer."(See all of Mike Russell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 407 words, 03/09/12
Roger Moore, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: MODERATE(cg) "...a popcorn movie, not to be taken any more seriously than 'Clash of the Titans' and its ilk. But even by those standards, it is a bit of a slog..."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 374 words, 03/09/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: WEAK(cg) "...a huge bore.... one of those films in which a whole lot of nothing that matters goes on in very big ways. If this sounds appealing, have at it."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 709 words, 03/09/12
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD(cg) "...you have to admit you enjoyed your time on Barsoom. There may be shame, but there will much less regret than you imagine."(See all of Connie Ogle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 688 words, 03/09/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (11 Reviews)
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "The achievement of 'John Carter' is that it takes the elements worn to nubs by everything from 'Star Wars' to 'Avatar' to TV's 'Fringe' and makes them fresh again."(See all of Mark Holcomb's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 310 words, 03/14/12
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...has too many moving parts... [still,] it takes off when director Andrew Stanton ('WALL-E') and co-screenwriter Michael Chabon don't take it too seriously."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 154 words, 03/08/12
Keith Phipps, AV Club: VERY GOOD(cg) "Stanton turns the film into a ripping adventure with gladiatorial combat against towering, many-armed albino apes and first-rate effects."(See all of Keith Phipps's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,256 words, 03/08/12
Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters: POOR(cg) "...the problem with the ostensibly 19th-century version of Mars is its exceeding dullness... The planet is vaguely reddish, and also flat and dry..."(See all of Cynthia Fuchs's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 920 words, 03/09/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Andrew Stanton's transition from animation to live action isn't quite as elegant as his Pixar colleague Brad Bird's was with 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.' "(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 188 words, 03/08/12
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: WEAK(cg) "...proves too silly and rushed to work as a respectable fantasy epic, but too heavy and convoluted to achieve pure escapism."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 629 words, 03/08/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: POOR(cg) "...a dreary Disneyfied inconsequence, features all the bigotries of century-old pulp fiction and none of the romance, neither the sexual nor the adventurous kind."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 883 words, 03/06/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (7 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: POOR "A deadly heaviness brings Disney's would-be epic down.... It's as if 'John Carter' were a fire pit with plenty of kindling and logs, but no one could find a match."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 969 words, 03/09/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "Messy and chaotic... but also colorful and kind of fun.... The silliness -- much of which is clearly intentional -- is blended with some genuine grandeur."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 731 words, 03/09/12
David Denby, New Yorker: POOR "...too many battles, too many creatures, too many redundant episodes.... we don't care who the hero is, because he seems too dreamy to care much himself."(See all of David Denby's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 728 words, 03/19/12
Ian Buckwalter, NPR: MODERATE "...when 'John Carter' begins taking itself too seriously -- which, at an overlong 132 minutes, it has plenty of opportunity to do -- its star feels a little lost."(See all of Ian Buckwalter's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 648 words, 03/08/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "Stanton never finds his footing.... 'John Carter' is in serious need of someone, something, to really root for other than this two-hour-plus film to finally end."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 850 words, 03/08/12
Dana Stevens, Slate: GOOD "...a strange, at times misshapen, but somehow lovable thing... a niche movie for lovers of literary science fiction... overlong but sweet-spirited..."(See all of Dana Stevens's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,009 words, 03/08/12
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: FAIR "...if you're willing to suspend not just disbelief but also all considerations of logic and intelligence and narrative coherence, it's a rip-roaring, fun adventure..."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,274 words, 03/08/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Peter Debruge, Daily Variety: POOR "...the movie has no point of view, unspooling with the same stodgy distance that classic sword-and-sandal pics brought to their he-man heroics."(See all of Peter Debruge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 959 words, 03/06/12
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Derivative but charming and fun enough.... both spectacular and a bit cheesy.... Neither classic nor fiasco, the film will likely delight sci-fi geeks most of all..."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,043 words, 03/06/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "Stanton never finds his footing.... 'John Carter' is in serious need of someone, something, to really root for other than this two-hour-plus film to finally end."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 850 words, 03/08/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: MODERATE(cg) "...overextends its wlecome... The characters are all science-fiction stock types.... has deadly patches of dialogue that are riddled with nonsense jargon."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 750 words, 03/01/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "Messy and chaotic... but also colorful and kind of fun.... The silliness -- much of which is clearly intentional -- is blended with some genuine grandeur."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 731 words, 03/09/12
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: POOR "A deadly heaviness brings Disney's would-be epic down.... It's as if 'John Carter' were a fire pit with plenty of kindling and logs, but no one could find a match."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 969 words, 03/09/12
22.9 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
John Carter's reviews are separated by an average 22.9 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
John Carter (52 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:John Carter's reviews cover 100.0% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 36,030 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 693 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
John Carter Coverage, Volume & Length (52 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 5.2 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
John Carter's reviews on average broke 5.2 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is John Carter's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
John Carter (52 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
Mobile Web App version 1.2 shows a list of all current movies and review information. You can click through to the cast, director, synopsis, release date and rating on page two, plus individual reviews on page three. The information is updated on a live/real-time basis. You can also search our database of films. Designed for when you're on the move and want the latest info, this app will work on any mobile web browser. From your mobile device -- only from a mobile device -- open our Mobile Web App here...
