John Carter
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: March 9, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
20
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Village VoiceMark HolcombMar 10, 2012
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. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovMar 8, 2012
Old-school "Gosh, wow!" sense-of-wonder filmmaking is in short supply in these anxious days, and John Carter (of Mars!) left me with my disbelief in suspended animation and once or twice with goosebumps dotting my arms. And that's enough for me. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanMar 10, 2012
Did anybody expect it to be a metaphor for modern America? Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 8, 2012
The result is an entertaining diversion but it lacks the magnificence one desires in the opening chapter of a would-be franchise. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. RussellMar 8, 2012
John Carter is too wickedly strange not to recommend. Movies this expensive usually play it much safer. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 8, 2012
Against the odds, John Carter is itself pretty amazing - an epic pulp saga that slowly rises to the level of its best imitations and wins you over by degrees. Read full review
75
MovielineStephanie ZacharekMar 8, 2012
Spirit counts for something too, and John Carter has plenty of that, in addition to the requisite dashes of wit. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie OgleMar 8, 2012
John Carter manages to be a ridiculous amount of fun, even if you are immune to the charms of Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) running around in what amounts to a stylish loincloth. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsMar 7, 2012
Rather than trying to overwhelm viewers by overloading the senses, John Carter's effects strive to create something new using as their foundation a book that's fired imaginations for the past century. Read full review
70
SlateDana StevensMar 8, 2012
This middle section, in which both Carter and the audience get a crash course in the politics, history, and theology of the Red Planet, is the movie at its most imaginative and most fun. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirMar 8, 2012
If you're willing to suspend not just disbelief but also all considerations of logic and intelligence and narrative coherence, it's also a rip-roaring, fun adventure, fatefully balanced between high camp and boyish seriousness at almost every second. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyMar 6, 2012
Director Andrew Stanton's Disney extravaganza is a rather charming pastiche. Read full review
65
Paste MagazineScott WoldApr 3, 2018
It’s tempting to believe a great sci-fi yarn exists in Carter, somewhere in the no doubt thick sheaf of studio notes demanding more spoon-feeding of an audience they believe to be equally thick. But more likely, it’s possible that Stanton simply wasn’t ready to make the leap from animation to super-budgeted live action. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMar 8, 2012
That's kind of the aesthetic that Stanton is going for: over-the-top pulp. But there's something generic about the digitally rendered Martians, and there's a corniness to the dialogue that keeps the audience from any kind of emotional attachment to the Tharks and Zodangans and their ilk. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 8, 2012
John Carter bites off more than even Woola can chew, but it's built on something rare: wonder instead of Hollywood cynicism. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMar 7, 2012
Does John Carter get the job done for the weekend action audience? Yes, I suppose it does. The massive city on legs that stomps across the landscape is well-done. The Tharks are ingenious, although I'm not sure why they need tusks. Lynn Collins makes a terrific heroine. Read full review
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