Oh man, that particular scene was a Crowning Moment of Awesome...
... even if it wasn't from the Princess of Mars novel.
John Carter Clip - I Was Too Late Once (720p HD) - YouTube
To me, the most awesome part of that scene was not John Carter going hog-wild, or even the emotional aspect of the scene (interspersed with shots of him burying his wife... even though he was never married in the novels before meeting Dejah Thoris). The coolest thing in this scene was Woola, who stood by his friend's side. Aesthetically speaking, the best part was seeing Woola running at top speed, circling around, and launching himself, jaws open, right at the enemy, and he flew just past the camera. Superb cinematography, IMHO. Of course, the excellent music by Michael Giacchino helped a lot (I consider this soundtrack to be amongst his finest works, even if it was attached to a mediocre movie... and really, the only thing that keeps Giacchino from becoming a standout composer is his apparent insistence on titles with craptastic puns).
