Edgar Rice Burroughs created the planet-hopping hero John Carter of Mars way back in 1912 in his serialized novels about a Southern gent transported to an alien world. So why does the new trailer for John Carter, directed by Pixar vet Andrew Stanton, feel so familiar? Shades of Avatar and Attack of the Clones distract from what should be nonstop ooh-ing and aah-ing over giant CG creature effects and Taylor Kitsch in a loincloth. Then again, Taylor Kitsch in a loincloth... thank you for that, Mr. Stanton.
Or is it more of a loincloth-skort? Anyway, watch the trailer premiere courtesy of IGN:
I dig the awesome factor of John Carter's Mars-enhanced super skills; I could do without Kitsch's gravelly grumbling. But seriously, how am I supposed to ignore the Queen Amidala vibe coming off of Lynn Collins? Or the "You are ugly, but you are beautiful" grudging interspecies acceptance of an outsider human stepping in to save a lanky, tribal alien race?
Do filmmakers even realize when they're making films that are just like other films?
Sigh.
Verdict: It's Attack of the Avatar Clone Wars, fine. What else am I going to see on March 9?