John Carter of Mars

Yesterday I watched John Carter of Mars (streaming) and loved it. It is an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s 1917 novel, A Princess of Mars, and there is no doubt in my mind that it is the most faithful adaptation of any Burroughs novel to date. It preserves nearly intact the characters, situation, settings, and plot of the original novel. There are a few deviations from the novel but most of them are to aid in the storytelling or make it more palatable to modern audiences. For example, Dejah Thoris, the princess of Mars of the novel’s title and the heroine, is a bit more kinetic and intellectual than in the novel.

The production values are quite high; the acting much better than you’ll typically find in fantasy fare. It has action without excessive gore, lots of skin without nudity or explicit sexual activity. It’s amazing that Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins (John Carter and Dejah Thoris) have the physiques to carry off the remarkable costumes.

Beyond being an adaptation of the novel John Carter is an homage to the great Frank Frazetta covers of the softcover reprints of the novels of fifty years ago. The settings and characters come from the novel but the look of the movie, its characters, and locations are derived in loving detail from those Frazetta covers.

On my bookshelf there’s a tattered first edition of A Princess of Mars. I discovered Edgar Rice Burroughs’s fiction well over fifty years ago. I remember sitting in my room, exploring Burroughs’s improbable imaginary Mars, the Mars that should have been, and its even less probable and exotic people and cultures for the first time, thrilling to the action and romantic adventure. The book bears a strong element of nostalgia for me and the movie brought that back in full force.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t see the same movie as the critics and, possibly, the audiences obviously did.

John Carter of Mars grossed something over $280 million with a reported production cost of $250 million. I doubt there will be a sequel.