It was little more than a century ago when people were seeing canals on Mars and wondering whether it could support life that might render humanity's existence in the universe less lonely, be it hostile or friendly. Though the scientific evidence was soon to disappoint about Mars’ inhabitability, the legacy of science fiction it has given us is immense. On one hand, there is H G Wells' The War of the Worlds, notorious for a radio broadcast thereof by a young man named Orson Welles who actually frightened enough Americans into believing in an actual invasion, and the other are Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom tales, which took the Western into space and prefigured, one would suppose, later works like James Cameron's Avatar.

The first filmic adaptation of Burroughs' Barsoom stories, released a century after the appearance of Burroughs' stories, is a lavish and ambitious adaptation with a lovingly built and carefully created world. Director Andrew Stanton, along with fellow screenwriters Mark Andrews and Michael Chabon, do no less in trying to stay true and improve upon Burroughs' Barsoom mythology.

The story is told in flashback as young writer Edgar Rice Burroughs (in a nod to The Man Who Would Be King which also cast Christopher Plummer as Kipling) reads the will of his uncle John Carter, who has seemed to lead a mysterious life of adventure. Taylor Kitsch (who may have the most unfortunate name in Hollywood for a lead actor since Francis X Bushman) stars as John Carter, a Confederate Captain from Virginia who through an artefact and a strange monk-like entity, finds himself on Mars, known as Barsoom. There he will meet the fierce, indomitable Tharks: four armed creatures who raise their children collectively and kill any hatchlings that do not emerge from their shells, romance the beautiful Princess Dejah Thoris trying to save her city from the advance, both romantic and territorial, of the warlord Sab Than, and find himself face to face with the strange monk-like entities, less than human yet more, known as the Holy Therns, and come face to face with their crafty leader Matai Shang (the always excellent Mark Strong).

While the world-building is meticulous and filled with atmospheric sets and a compelling mix of real world and digital locations (many of which were shot in Utah in Monument Valley-like locations akin to those where all the old John Ford classics were shot); the film falls curiously flat on its characters. Taylor Kitsch is far from a compelling lead, and his performance comes off mostly as a weird hybrid imitation of Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford in addition to his rather unconvincing character arc, which cannot decide on whether to make him a cold, taciturn Eastwood-type badass, a Han Solo-like opportunist, or a classic world-saving Arthurian hero. This subtracts from the other characters, especially the highly intriguing Holy Therns, who seem to be Guardian Angels of History responsible for nudging civilizations to their eventual collapse. Under it all is a rather compelling exploration of the rise and fall of civilizations and the ability of men to rise above their baser natures at critical moments, sort of an edgier and more adult Avatar, but John Carter delivers it with so little of a sense of wonder that aided by an uncompelling lead character, goes little if anywhere.