Watching Disney’s new epic adventure ‘John Carter’ you can’t help but want to compare it to the sci-fi classic likes of ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Avatar, but given that the novels this film is based on served as inspiration for George Lucas and James Cameron, the comparisons are more than valid.  Edgar Rice Burroughs had created a vivid intergalactic world with ‘John Carter’ long before Skywalker had his adventures, we’ve just had to wait longer for Carter to be done justice.  Under the colourful direction of Andrew Stanton (‘Wall-E’) ‘John Carter’ is every bit the epic it clearly intends to be.  In 1880’s American Civil war veteran Carter (heartthrob-in-waiting Taylor Kitsch) unexpectedly finds himself transported to the planet Mars, or Barsoom as it is called here, where he is treated initially as some sort of spectacle, before held prisoner by the inhabitants of the planet, 12 foot tall barbarians ruled by Tars Tarkas (voiced by Willem Dafoe).

As to be expected there’s a war on the horizon and Carter gets trapped in the middle of it when he falls for princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) who’s fighting for the safety of her city which is set to be overruled by Sab Than (Dominic West).  Yes there are a lot of names thrown about, and it’s quite an intricate storyline, one that may be a bit too complex for the young audience this film seems to be marketed towards, but the film never skims over the details resulting in a 2+hour running time.  The 3D effects unfortunately don’t add anything great to the final product, but it’s a minor criticism for a surprisingly grown-up adventure film that will hopefully find a blossoming audience.