‘John Carter’ of Mars Trailer Lacks One Thing: Mars

By  · Published on July 15th, 2011

The first teaser for John Carter isn’t the astonishing first peek it should be. Instead, it’s oddly underwhelming. Where’s the sense of a grand-scale adventure film? First of all, John Carter seems to be hanging out in any Earth bound desert, not Mars. There’s nothing in this trailer that’ll tell a filmgoer who is unfamiliar with the books that they’re on frickin’ Mars. Besides the quick glimpse of a green martian, very little is here that gives off the vibe that they’re on an alien inhabited planet.

Watch the trailer:

Complaints aside, this ain’t a bad teaser. It’s just fine, but that’s kind of the problem.

Perhaps Disney is holding back on showing some of the goods this early on, and being this far out, a lot of FX work is surely unfinished. If this trailer gets across anything, it’s the old-school adventure vibe. The spirit and tone they seem to be going for could make for a fantastic event film. Andrew Stanton is a sure thing when it delivering fun adventures with a heart, so I bet he’ll deliver an epic far greater than this ok teaser hints at.

John Carter opens on March 9th, 2012.

Watch the trailer in HD at Apple.

Longtime FSR contributor Jack Giroux likes movies. He thinks they're swell.