Hey folks, Harry here... I haven't written a terrible lot about JOHN CARTER since the movie went into production. I was distancing myself. After spending the better part of a 6 years of my life to working on an adaptation, that came perilously close to filming on many ocassions... it's weird as living hell to talk about Andrew Stanton and Disney's take on it. I haven't been blown away by anything from the film thus far. The Thark design seems a bit emaciated for my mental image, the casting of John and Dejah made me cringe, and pretty much everything that Andrew has said publicly makes me want to argue. BUT - he has made the film. That is not easy. Reading his interviews has been fascinating because he seems to not really love the original novel, but the ideas of the source material. He's making his own Barsoomian adventure with these characters that isn't hard and fast adhering strictly to the source material... which makes me a little crazy, but at the same time... I am a HUGE fanboy to the world of John Carter.
I've literally been dying to see this movie get made since about a week after I saw EMPIRE STRIKES BACK as a boy. Here are some pics that Disney has released today - leading up to the release of the new trailer, due December 1st, 2011. So soon. I can't wait. The first trailer left me a little flat. Didn't feel like a grand adventure. Didn't seem to soar. Of course, the production probably had very little finished visual effects work to cut from, so there was no reason to go into panic mode, like some did with that first AVENGERS trailer - which was also very early in the VFX process for that film.
So I'll comment upon each here...
So much of a shot like this feels so static as a still. There's no real sense of what's happening, but what I don't like is how ordinary the background feels. That doesn't feel like Mars or Barsoom of my imagination, though the airships do have a Helium style to them. Can't wait to see this in motion.
Here's John and Dejah... Not a huge fan of the clunky nature of her attire, not that she needed to just be in a metal bikini... The red of her skin is making me happier than it looked in the first trailer.
Now here's John and Tars Tarkas. I really must reserve any judgement until I see how Dafoe is playing Tars. He's my favorite character from the books - and Dafoe's Sgt. Elias from PLATOON has some of Tars' soul, but I'm really nervous. I want to love Tars Tarkas. That will be determined not merely in Dafoe's performance, the visual effects team's work on him - but also how John Carter interacts with him, how Sola reacts to him. How he is reflected in Giacchino's score. I do find it odd that Tars seems so damned 2 armed in this shot. I can see the hints of the others - but it is an odd shot.
Here's Sola, Dejah and John on a skiff. This is my favorite shot they've released today. Still not a fan of the blue sky though.
That's WOOLA! That's WOOLA in a total curious passive kinda mode. WOOLA will be your childrens favorite character, and most likely yours as well. WOOLA is a character that MUST be amazing on screen - and the word I've heard from folks working on John Carter - well they tell me WOOLA steals the movie. Now realize - this is WOOLA passive. When that mouth opens, when that tongue comes out... when John rubs her belly... Oh my god. Pure awesome, I know it.
I've heard a lot about this production. They hired many of the same folks that were working on our version of the film. For a very long time, the word on the production was dissatisfied. However, after reshoots - after time in editing, I finally started to hear that people were really starting to like Taylor Kitsch's John Carter - that they found the character and he was awesome. That WOOLA was amazing. That Giacchino's score gave the film the emotional lift it was needing and made Dejah live and love a bit more.
So right now - I'm at the best spot I've been on the film. I'm looking forward to it. No matter what - it'll be a unique film experience for me. But a shot like that last one. It makes me want to watch the film NOW. That's WOOLA - it's a damn fine Woola and I can't wait to hear her noises, to watch how she falls in love with John and becomes the best dog in the universe!
December 1st we all see what we can make of this film. Tick tock... BE GREAT!
