'John Carter'
Plot: A former Civil War soldier, Carter (Taylor Kitsch) stumbles upon a cave with gold deposits while being chased by Apaches in Arizona. What he discovers turns out to be rarer than the finest ore: a medallion that transports him to Mars.
PG-13; 1 hour, 58 minutes
Upside: Taylor Kitsch does his best with the lackluster Carter character, but his acting was more impressive as a teenage football star on TV’s 'Friday Night Lights.'
Downside: The characters are one-dimensional, even in 3-D, which is gimmicky and unnecessary here. There’s also a gangly Jar Jar Binks quality to these aliens, who are tough to tell apart.
