The Anger Parade fights the Fear with Green Lantern

Just got home from a small screening of Green Lantern courtesy of @headgeek666, AICN, the Alamo Drafthouse, and of course Warner Bros. I started getting feedback about Green Lantern yesterday while Tarable (don't tell her I call her that) and I were sitting in line waiting for seats to Attack the Block, also courtesy of AICN, when a few reviews from a local press screening started popping up. The crowd of movie geeks around us exploded with conversation about the reviews, which were all negative. Really negative. The word hate was thrown around. I was surprised. So I went into the movie tonight with all this negativity, this yellow fear, buzzing in my skull.

Then Harry takes the stage and talks for a couple minutes about how unreal it is to be seeing a Green Lantern movie (I'm not old enough or so well versed in GL to share his awe at this point), and how he hopes its the movie we all want it to be, even if its not the perfect movie. Then he asks who's wearing their Green Lantern Rings, which Tarable and I are, so the crowd shows off their geek gear, and then he said something that I thought was funny, incredibly geeky, and a little profound. Harry said, basically, that we should all WILL the movie to be what we want it to be. This was an interesting comment, and I think it has bearing on the critical reaction to the movie.

With that thought in my head, and the pre-conceived negativity pushed to the back of my mind, I was able to sit back and enjoy the film. Green Lantern is an entertaining flick that delivers on the looks and the action, but stumbles due to poor writing, cheesiness, and clumpy pacing. Ryan Reynolds should bring in a crowd, and he's predictably charismatic, even when he struggles with poorly written dialogue. Blake Lively is smoking hot, but spends a little too much time as the damsel in distress. I thought her first scene was completely flat, which had me worried, but her Carol Ferris grew on me as the movie moved forward. Which brings me to something I really liked about the movie: there are a number of scenes where people geek out about how cool it is that their buddy Hal Jordan is now a superhero. I thought these scenes worked, were funny, and were generally well integrated into the story. It translated some of the wonder the audience is meant to feel onto the screen, into these side characters, and these scenes got appreciative laughs and nods from my fellow viewers. My favorite parts of Green Lantern were the trips to Oa. They were visually fascinating, and I wish we had spent more time with the alien members of the Green Lantern Corps. I hope this movie succeeds, if for no other reason than I want a sequel that isn't an origin story, in which some of the real potential of the Green Lantern Crops is unleashed.

Most of Green Lanterns most dangerous failures are not what it DID, but what it didn't do. If you make a movie about a Corps of Superheroes who can do quite literally anything they can imagine, the directors, screen writers, and special effects folks had better come up with some really creative fucking constructs to wow the audience with. This part of the film was underwhelming. The constructs looked cool, but there were too many mundane weapons and not enough Holy Shit moments. I wanted to have a shit eating grin on my face every time Hal used the ring, but I was underwhelmed. Sure, there are a couple cool moments, which I won't ruin for you, but damn it, I want more. So much more.

In the end, Tarable and I liked Green Lantern. I don't understand the violent hatred for it. and most of the people I heard talking about it liked it too. Partly, I think it has to do with the overwhelming number of Superhero comic book adaptions coming out this summer, and the fact that they're getting worse instead of better. It's been years since Iron Man and The Dark Knight showed the world what comic book movies could be, but no one has yet lived up to those examples. People want more than what we're being given. Though I haven't seen it, the X-Men remake supposedly bucks the trend of declining returns. Lets see where Captain America takes us next month.

Anyway, it's late and I'm tired. In the last couple weeks I've also caught Attack of the Block, and attended @headgeek666's awesome Super 8 event, which I'll be writing about soon. Here, just because, is the Green Lantern Trailer. Take the oath!