Home and Not Back Again: John Carter of Mars Film Review

Jean-Marc Saint Laurent

30 March 2014

Dr. D. Smith

British Fantasy Literature

Home and Not Back Again: John Carter of Mars Film Review

            In the same way that The Godfather was in its essential elements a story about the inseparable bonds of familial dedication and loyalty, so is Disney’s John Carter of Mars the involved narrative of one man’s journey to recover the home he’d long lost.

Plot Outline    

The film follows Captain John Carter of the Virginian Confederate Calvary in the calamitous atmosphere of a post Civil War America: threats come on all sides from the Native American inhabitants, Union soldiers wanting to enlist the ex-soldier against his will, and the recurring nightmares of his past failures. By the time the audience gets the chance for a good character study of Carter, we find him a violent, cynical drunk with an obsession for finding some famed cave of gold, which through a series of happenstance allows Mr. Carter to find himself on the planet Mars, called Barsoom by its native inhabitants.

            The film, this viewer argues, carefully treads the demarcations of what constitutes stereotypical fantasy and science-fiction. While the earlier stories are often classified as the latter, this narrative displays several features of the fantastical ethos: 1) an environmental narrative: the planet of Barsoom  is being harvested for energy by her enemies, the Thurn, who claim immortality and shape-shifting among their many abilities, 2) a story of universal appeal: much of the plot focuses on the possession of the Nine Ray Power, the apparent life force of Mars, 3) creatures alien to the viewer: Barsoom is a world home to a plethora of fantastical creatures, including the green humanoid Tharks, the monstrous white apes, and some unnamed elephant-like animals with  legs as numerous as a spider’s.

Story Elements Requiring Further Analysis

Gender Politics

Although one might be tempted to fit John Carter of Mars into the mold of the stereotypical the hero-damsel narrative (I certainly tried—it’s just easier that way), the film pleasantly defies many expectations. Both women and men are enlisted in military combat. While this is a Disney film, meaning there is an unspoken expectation for the male to play hero at least once to the gender opposite, Dejah Thoris, a sort of warrior professor princess, handles her own affairs throughout most of the film: sword fighting and intermittently mocking Carter for his original belief early in the film that she would require his protection . This is not to say the character does not have her low moments; in one scene, the character, having found herself nearly abandoned by the film’s protagonist, pleads on her knees for his help. In addition, Dejah is readily given in marriage by her father to a rival king, or Jeddak in order to make peace.

Manifestations of Power

In Mars, just as on Earth, sources of power throughout the film show themselves to be science, violence and religion. Writers Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews, and Michael Chabon do something quite interesting with religion and science by tying them together. The blue power of the Nine Rays (likely signifying the nine planets, or a universal power) is wielded by the Thurns who are messengers and assassins for the Goddess Isus. The special power constructs pathways, operates machinery, tortures enemies and decimates cities. The power of religion soon also wins over John Carter who willingly begins swearing oaths in the name of the Goddess and making Martian religious talk his own.

Class Hierarchcies

            Barsoom is divided amongst military regions, where there appears to be no obvious exercise of individual will: all inhabitants attend public gatherings without protest, wear similar clothing and work to serve the needs of royalty.

Final Word

Largely considered a box office flop due to the exorbitant amount of money Disney put into the project—some estimates find the studio would needed to have been one of the top 63 films of all times to see any profit—John Carter of Mars stands on its own as a science-fiction/fantasy film worth its mettle and further analysis from would be critics.