Green Lantern Movie Review

by Dr. C-LOS

Marvel has had a lot of success with their movie franchises, even with their lesser known properties. DC, however, has been content to use only their big two, Superman and Batman. That was true until now. Green Lantern, one of DC's biggest properties in comics today, finally hits the big screen. But does the film live up to the potential that the graphic novel iterations seem to imply?

For those not in the know, Green Lantern follows Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), an ace test pilot with the ability to overcome great fear. This ability is recognized by a dying alien and thus bestows onto Jordan a ring that is controlled by the green power of will. This ring can manifest green-colored constructs, limited only by the user's willpower and creativity.

Green Lantern's ring in action.

Jordan then joins an intergalactic group of aliens also chosen to be ring bearers. This group is called the Green Lantern Corps. Their biggest threat is an entity known as Parallax, a parasitic monster that feeds on the yellow power of fear.

This might sound a bit cheesy but this is based on a comic book after all. Green Lantern doesn't take itself too seriously except when needed, and has quite a sense of humor. My favorite gag being when Reynolds does his best impression of Christian Bale as Batman.

"Carol, I have a confession. I'm a green space cop."
"...................
Be serious Hal."

Overall, Reynolds does a great job as Hal Jordan though he may come off a bit more goofy than his comic book counterpart. Blake Lively, however, was not a great choice as fellow pilot Carol Ferris, but at least she is nice to look at. The best performances are by Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond and Mark Strong as Sinestro. Unfortunately, Tim Robbins was chosen as Hammond's father, which is unbelievable considering how close in age they look. Angela Bassett as Amanda Waller was a great choice but her scenes are short-lived. And Sinestro is underutilized, along with other interesting Green Lantern Corps members. Furthermore, some characters could have been better fleshed out, leading to a feeling that the story is being rushed through so they can just get to the sequel. 

As for the special effects, they were very well done and are one of the film's best assets. Thankfully, the film was shot in 3D as opposed to being converted. It really shows as the 3D effects look great. The planet Oa, where the Green Lantern Corps reside, looks marvelous. It is too bad then that we don't see much of it or its inhabitants.

Wish we could have seen more of this.

One of Green Lantern's biggest downfalls, however, is that the story has way too much going on. There just isn't enough time to cover Jordan's background. We learn enough about his father to care, but there is more behind the relationship between Jordan and Carol Ferris. There just wasn't enough time to explore that relationship within the film. Furthermore, Sinestro could have been fleshed out a lot better. Showing his dark side develop would have made a great story arc. The story is there but it's only touched upon enough to make way for a sequel. And the film goes just a little longer than it had to. It's not that I got bored from it being too long, it's just that they tried to cram too much into it. If they had focused on just one villain, and hadn't been so adamant about getting everything out of the way for the sequel, the story could have been tighter and more enjoyable.

Despite the flaws, Green Lantern still ends up being very entertaining. The special effects, action, and sense of humor add up to a very good, though not great film. Green Lantern doesn't quite live up to the lofty goals of Dark Knight or Iron Man 1, but it ends up about on par with Thor or better. It might help to be a Green Lantern comics fan so you can understand a lot of the smaller details, but it does not hurt the film otherwise. And now that they have the origin out of the way, I can see the sequel being much more focused, and having more time to tell a better story. In the meantime, Green Lantern is an enjoyable but bumpy ride.

E3 2011 Musings

Well E3 is done and enough time has gone by to contemplate what we've seen. Let's get into it shall we?....

Microsoft

I was sorely disappointed with Microsoft again this year. They focused on Kinect a lot but did not show anything that really wowed me. I'm happy another Dance Central iteration is on its way, but not much else caught my attention. Being able to customize your guns in Ghost Recon using the Kinect is a neat idea, but I'd rather do it with my controller. I just cannot see myself being very accurate with a gun using the Kinect instead of an analog controller.

They showed Gears of War 3 again, and a revamped version of the original Halo, which are both nice but nothing too exciting at this point. The only somewhat surprising thing was Halo 4 was officially announced.

I always thought we would see Halo 4 announced sometime down the line but not this soon. I suppose Microsoft might have put too many eggs into their Kinect basket. They needed something to get the core gamers excited. Not that there aren't plenty of quality games coming out for the 360, but not too many exclusives to get excited about. Gears 3 and Halo 4 should help MS out but hopefully they have more up their sleeves for the future. Anyway, Halo 4 is a buy for me but only because I know my friends will buy it too. Otherwise I'd pass.


Sony

I admit I was surprised by Sony this year. Similar to last year, not much caught my attention... except for their new portable, the Vita.

It actually looks like they are putting some effort into the Vita. It features some impressive graphics along with analog controls, motion controls, a touchscreen, and an odd touchpad on the back of the system. I'm all for whatever brings in some creativity and maybe that touchpad on the back might help. As long as they do not take the same approach they did with the PSP then I'm all for it. After all, what's the point of a portable that just has the same stuff I can play on my PS3 right now? Well unless it is like Hideo Kojima's "transfarring" system idea then it's not a selling point.

For those not in the know, "transfarring" allows you to transfer your current game progress from the console (PS3) to the portable (PSP or Vita). You can get further in the game on your portable and later transfer it back to the console. It sounds like a great idea though that alone won't get me to buy a Vita. And so far, it seems to only be an idea Kojima thought up without any hard info on any games using it either.

The price point is very smart. At $249.99 for a Wi-Fi model, it's a very competitively priced new portable. Now let's see something that makes me want to buy it Sony!


Nintendo

I admit I like Nintendo much more than Sony or Microsoft, but I was hoping they would show more new games. The Wii got no love, but at least they showed some 3DS games to get excited for.

Luigi's Mansion was a decent game, and I've been waiting for a new Kid Icarus since forever so I will likely buy those two sequels. I'm a fan of Mario Kart but the new version looks to have too many gimmicks. Once I saw the underwater and floating parts I actually lost complete interest.

Not interested in 3D versions of old games like Star Fox, but there is definitely a market for that and it will keep gamers happy while they wait for more games. But the new game that got my attention this time was the new 3D Super Mario game.

Super Mario on the 3DS looks like it's going somewhat back to its roots by mixing the 3D gameplay with some old 2D staples. Primarily, I'm excited to see the return of Tanuki Mario! Can't wait to see more on this game. Especially can't wait to get my hands on it!

But the one thing that got me really excited was the official announcement of the Wii U!

Unfortunately, they did not show any real games. They only showed a few minigames and an amazing-looking Zelda tech demo. Hopefully that tech demo turns into a full-fledged game. And I'm sure it will with time. They need to finish Skyward Sword first.

Regardless, the hardware definitely has loads of potential. Nintendo is finally embracing HD graphics and seems to be moving in a direction where they are servicing both to the core and casual gamers. The tablet controller will be perfect for casual gamers with minigames and such. But the tablet could also be used for core games as well. The tech demo showcased this well but there are certainly other applications such as being able to see a planted turret's POV during an FPS multiplayer match, or using it as a rear-view mirror during a racing game.

Once again, there were not any big games actually announced for the Wii U but they did show gameplay footage from new games running on 360/PS3 hardware. These games will be released on the Wii U as well and will likely have similar graphics to what was shown. I imagine that we will see something more substantial at next year's E3, but Nintendo made their point. They are always thinking about how to innovate and change the way we play games. And I'm definitely excited for the Wii U and its potential. Now, like I said to Sony, show me some games Nintendo! However, something worth noting is the next Smash Bros. game was announced for both the 3DS and the Wii U! Can't get here soon enough!


BONUS~!

I've never been huge on MMO's, or Star Wars for that matter, but this game is shaping up nicely and might just pull me over to the Dark Side...... of gaming. I've even decided to pick up Knights of the Old Republic just to get an idea of what it would be like. So far, I'm greatly enjoying KOTOR. Hopefully SWTOR turns out well. Actually, I'm sure it will be awesome. This was the only thing that really caught my attention outside of the big 3 conferences. Well the only thing besides this....

Now wasn't that awesome? Rocksteady also recently announced that preordering at Best Buy will net you Tim Drake's Robin playable in a couple challenge rooms! A Red Robin skin is also available.

The Boy Wonder is looking pretty badass here.

A little research indicates that preordering only gets you Robin early and that he will be available later as DLC. I hope that is true because I am preordering with Amazon to use the $20 I'm getting from preordering Gears of War 3 with them. If not, no big deal.


So once again, I feel that if I had to pick a "winner" of E3, Nintendo would be it. A healthy showing of games for the 3DS and the potential of an innovative new console have won me over. But what did YOU think was most impressive from E3? What did you feel was lackluster? Maybe the Vita won you over? Or maybe playing Ghost Recon with the Kinect has you feeling goosebumps? Let me know your thoughts on what you saw from E3!

See you next time!