Metacritic Movie Ratings
John Carter Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 70

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy

  Director Andrew Stanton's Disney extravaganza is a rather charming pastiche.

  Read full review

• 63

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  Does John Carter get the job done for the weekend action audience? Yes, I suppose it does. The massive city on legs that stomps across the landscape is well-done. The Tharks are ingenious, although I'm not sure why they need tusks. Lynn Collins makes a terrific heroine.

  Read full review

• 60

  out of 100

  The New York TimesA.O. Scott

  It is a potpourri of arcane and familiar genres. "Mash-up" doesn't begin to capture this hectic hybrid; it's more like a paintball fight. Messy and chaotic, in other words, but also colorful and kind of fun.

  Read full review

• 50

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  Though the project, based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel "A Princess of Mars," is ambitious, it's also bloated, dreary and humorless.

  Read full review

• 40

  out of 100

  Variety

  Stanton has been given the resources to create an expansive, expensive world, but lacks the instincts to direct live-action, a limitation that shows most in the performances. Bare of chest and fair of feature, Kitsch doesn't exhibit enough charisma to carry a project of this scale.

  Read full review

• 40

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey

  That John Carter is so hit and miss, and miss, and miss is unfortunate on any number of levels.

  Read full review

• 40

  out of 100

  Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

  This new Disney film, marked by myriad lapses and marketing follies, bears the woefully familiar earmarks of a big studio production that was pulled and hauled every which way until it lost all shape and flavor.

  Read full review

• 25

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman

  Nothing in John Carter really works, since everything in the movie has been done so many times before, and so much better.

  Read full review

See all John Carter movie reviews at Metacritic.com