Green Lantern

Comic book movies are tough to pull off correctly. Comic books are set in fantasy worlds where aliens save the planet and mutant animals biting someone is beneficial somehow. This is a hindrance because dark, realistic films are the rage right now which counters some of the preset universes of comics. This benefits movies like The Dark Knight but movies like Green lantern are having trouble bridging the gap. GL did what FF4 did a few years ago. It seemed to miss the important parts of the characters and instead focused on their social quirks for too long. Sure we understand Hal Jordan a little better with his father's untimely death. We understand his fear when he locks up in mid air but how did he become one of the best pilots in the world with that phobia? He didn't understand overcoming his fear yet.  This isn't a guy who is down and out or lost within himself. He is a ridiculously good looking world class pilot who hooks up with beautiful women all the time...boo hoo. Yea your father died when you were young in a plane crash but then you choose to fly planes!? A slight phobia at 50,000 foot free fall doesn't make him epic, it makes him human. And how did veteran GL's get RAPED by paralax 5 at a time but Ryan Reynold's was able to beat him solo after a couple of weeks with the ring. Does experience count for nothing? Abin Sur was the greatest GL who already defeated paralax but he got ambushed and died. So the other 3.5k GL suck at their job? They don't understand courage like this model-like human does? There is a line where Killawog says humans think they are the center of the universe... Seriously? The script justified him by us writing a movie that made a human the messiah to the GL core! They have an infinite amount of experience but Ryan Reynold says the oath and summons fighter jets so he is the savior of the universe!? He had the ring for like a week! It just didn't make sense even with my attempt to turn off this part of my brain. Plus before all this the best he could come up with was a lame race track to save the flailing helicopter! Like a week after this juvenile attempt at heroics, he saves the ENTIRE UNIVERSE!!!!
The movie just felt cheesy without trying to be. It felt like FF4, the Hulk, and Spiderman 3. It didn't succeed where other movies have.
 Superman becomes the last of his species (almost) when his world was destroyed and feels the weight of his new world on his shoulders, Batman pretty much becomes insane with his parents death, Spiderman is a scrawny 15 year old hated by the very people he protects. These are qualities of a hero. Sacrifice with a sense of detachment. GL has these qualities too but the movie didn't focus on that. They focused on Ryan Reynold's abs and his ability to be funny. Why not show him younger learning how to fly and overcome his father's shadow? How about showing him trying other professions before he is sucked into the world of flight? I don't really care if it isn't 100% accurate to the comics. I just want a comic book movie 100% accurate to the character. X-men first class wasn't exactly like the comic book story lines but the characters were and that's what made it fantastic. These directors and writers have 50+ years of character development to work with but for whatever reason (studio execs, producers, appealing to the masses etc) they focus on flash instead of substance. And the sad thing with the flashy pew pew, it wasn't even good. Even when Transformers isn't great with some stuff, the CGI pew pew is awesome and I feel entertained. I really wanted this one to be good. I don't know much about GL and I know he has more heart than the movie gave him.

Super 8

JJ Abrams has created something special with this one. He has taken his love of mystery, story telling, and characters and combined them into quite possibly the best two hours you will spend at the theater this summer. Abrams' Super 8 had me feeling oddly nostalgic of my childhood when I watched movies like E.T. Jurassic Park, or Indiana Jones. He has given us what Spielberg gave to us, popcorn movies with heart. Something has happened to movies in the passed decade, with exceptions of course, that seem to communicate heart and entertainment are mutually exclusive. You can't have entertaining action and CGI while developing characters that the audience cares about! Well Abrams proved this wrong with Super 8. He takes the time to develop his main ensemble of middle school film lovers so when the action hits, the audience genuinely cares for their well being. It has been too long since I have had goosebumps, emotional upheaval, and suspenseful fear in the same movie. 

Abram's story of a mysterious creature being let loose in a small town is only the backdrop of middle school children transitioning from childhood into adulthood. The main character, Joe, is a middle school boy who starts out the movie attempting to cope with the death of his mother. He is left with a loving, yet stern, father who doesn't understand his new found role of both mother and father. Joe is left to fend for himself with only his fellow film makers to help. Throughout the movie, Joe learns of loss, love, and the necessity of letting go.

X-Men First Class

X Men: First Class is the first movie since The Dark Knight that exceeded my already high expectations. Hype can kill a movie. It has happened far too much to me in my life so I attempt to avoid it when possible but because of my love of the X-Men Universe, I could not help but be hopeful. Not only was the X-Men universe enough to keep me interested but the cast was out of this world with talent. James McAvoy as an idealistic Charles Xavier was a great fit. And a hero is only as good as his villain and few are in the same league as Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (Magneto). To fill such a role, director Matthew Vaughn chose the scene stealer from Inglorious Basterds, Michael Fassbender. Fassbender continues his scene stealing habits in First Class. His story line was the most understandable and tragic. As much as one would love to be the idealistic telepath, Charles Xavier, one can't help but think "what would I become if faced with the same horrors as Lehnsherr?". This villain had heart and good in him, as we all do, so his inevitable fall from grace hurts that much more. With Xavier's idealism pitted against Lehnsherr's pessimistic realism, we are faced to look at ourselves and ask "where would I stand?"

My Movie Rants

I am starting this Blog for three reasons. I love going to the movies, I have a tendency to rant, and my little brother gets me free movie tickets at local rave theaters. So to save my friends the pain of listening to my rants, that can go a bit long, I decided to just get it all out here where I am sure only my brothers and Zeke will read them. With Branch's hookup at the rave, I can see as many movies as I can handle and with such a good line up of movies this summer, it seems foolish to not abuse Branch's new found power.