
I so wanted to fall in love with this movie, it had everything from the beefed up Led Zeplin soundtrack on the trailer to stars including Mark Strong, Taylor Kitch & Lynn Collins (both from Wolverine) & Dominic West taking the lad roles, backed up with voice performances from Willem Dafoe & Thomas Hayden Church as a few of the 12 foot aliens it seemed that all of my Sci-fi dreams were coming true.

Well, its long - 2hrs in length and you really feel every minute of it with the first 30 minutes all set back in the 1800's during the American Civil War. I was not aware of the stories so although for people like me this needed to be explained, half an hour of slow, ploddy dialogue was just too much.
By the way, there is a plot which probably does need some recognition and it sees our hero, Carter (Kitch) on a search for his fortune and on the run from the confederate army when he comes across a resident of Mars hidden in the cave of gold he so eagerly seeks - after a quick fight, Carter find himself transported to Mars where he almost instantly discovers that due to his size and weight, the gravitational pull has given his almost superhuman like strength and an ability to leap phenomenal distances. After a short time, Carter is captured by a tribe of 12 foot alien beings and once his abilities are discovered he becomes a leader of their armies and goes into battle against Sab Than (West) who is hell bent on capturing one of the last remaining cities, marrying the princess and destroying everything. It's up to Cater and the band of Tharks to work with Princess Deja (Collins) & her dad, Tardos (Ciaran Hinds) to bring an end to Than's rule.

The sad thing is, I cant put my finger on exactly what was so bad - the effects for the White Apes and the spaceships was as good as lets say the Phantom Menace and the cast have each excelled in previous movies but all together with a drawn out script and too long getting anywhere it just seems like a slow, laborious rumble in the sand and one I could have easily done without.

Sorry Disney, normally an admirer of your work I feel the money that went into this could easily have been better spent buying the population of South Korea a Big Mac each (if my maths is right!)
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