John Carter
(out of four)
Disney's sci-fi fantasy bomb cost somewhere between a squillion and a bajillion dollars to make and sell, after nearly a century spent bringing Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian chronicles to the screen. So where did all that loot go?
The screenplay by writer/director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E) and co-writers Mark Andrews and Michael Chabon is far too faithful to Burroughs' ancient babble, while at the same time being deaf to modern interests. Such things as humour, thrills and genuine jeopardy are seriously lacking here.
John Carter, a peace-loving space traveller from the Wild West (played by Canada's Taylor Kitsch), is smothered by CGI and bad dialogue as he journeys from Civil War-era Arizona to Mars, here called Barsoom. On this red planet, the Tharks are at odds with each other and apparently at war with the bloodthirsty Zodangans. And what of the Heliumites? Will peacenik Carter stay and fight?
John Carter shares more with a Dr. Seuss cartoon than it does with any self-respecting live-action interstellar adventure. The head-bashing and boot-knocking of the book is dialed way down, so as not to offend the censors, making it more for kids than adults.
Extras include deleted scenes with optional director's commentary, making-of featurettes and gag reel.
Safe House
Rogue ex-CIA agent Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) lectures to rookie sleuth Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) that spies need to "take advantage of people's desires to believe, to trust."
I know the feeling. With a cast this promising — Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga and Sam Shepard are included — and potential alchemy between the two leads, I was hoping for this chase thriller from director Daniel Espinosa to be more than an homage to the Bourne franchise and to Tony Scott films. Consider me suckered.
Safe House starts off well enough, with Weston bench-warming at a CIA safe house in Cape Town, South Africa, busily maintaining a feeble cover with his hot French girlfriend (Nora Arnezeder) while bugging his boss for a transfer to Paris. The boss tells Weston he's got to prove his worth, and opportunity soon comes knocking in the person of CIA ace turned commie traitor Tobin Frost.
Script problems soon have the film sagging, as the characters played by Washington and Reynolds rarely get to match wits or fists. Meanwhile, Gleeson, Farmiga and Shepard, all decent actors, are given little to do. Apart from a few good chase scenes, Safe House is bland enough to bottle for Gerber's.
Extras include cast and crew interviews, making-of featurettes.
Peter Howell
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Article source: http://www.toronto.com/article/730855--dvd-reviews-john-carter-safe-house
Tags: andrew stanton, boss, DVD, DVD reviews, edgar rice burroughs, Extras, Frost, michael chabon, Reviews, Safe, Season, space traveller, taylor kitsch 
