Green Lantern

That Midnightman post? Yeah, not nearly as important as this.

So, I've finally gone and watched the Green Lantern movie today. It was ok. I enjoyed it, but then again I know next to nothing about Green Lantern besides the oath (Come on. Everybody knows the oath.) and Sinestro is a bad guy. Although he wasn't in this movie. I suppose if they make a sequel it will be all about Sinny turning evil, and I'm totally ok with that. I am in fact, stoked for a potential sequel. I know a lot of people said this movie sucked, and I suppose I would have had I read the comics before watching this movie. However, I've always been a Marvel girl. The only real contact I've had with the DC universe is through the Batman Animated Series, The Superman Animated Series, Batman Beyond and Justice League. All of which were fantastic shows.

Anyway, I guess I'll start with the bad. For one, there was an infodump at the very beginning of the movie describing the Lanterns and how they came to be. Don't do this. Ever. It is bad, lazy storytelling, and I am offended that the writers thought so little of us that they had to give us a cliffnotes history upfront. I saw at least five places that all of that could have been brought up. Like, when they were explaining everything to Hal on Oa.

Another thing, the special effects for the most part were pretty good. But there were a couple of scenes, like when Hal was flying, when the actor's head looked more or less messily pasted on in Post. It just looked ugly and fake and took me out of the wonder of Oa, and the new abilities that I desperately wish I had. I would make a totally badass Green Lantern.

Also, why does every super hero need a girlfriend? The girlfriend wasn't needed. At all. She could have just been a badass best friend, and the story wouldn't have suffered at all. But no. They had to get the kissing quota up I guess. It just ticks me off. She, as a character, didn't piss me off at all. In fact, I kinda liked her. She lampshaded one of the biggest flaws in just about every super hero story ever. That being that the friends and family of the heroes rarely, if ever, recognize the hero just because their cheekbones are covered. (No. Really, why doesn't anyone realize Clark Kent is just Superman with glasses?)

Anyway, for the most part the effects were pretty good. I love how the first half of the movie sets up the final battle with Parallax. Even the jet fighters in the very beginning make a comeback. I was very pleased.

As for Hal himself, I don't know if he was characterized the same way in the comics, but I grew rather attached to him over the course of the movie. He was an arrogant, sarcastic little bastard, and I loved every minute of it. He was above all else, a flawed human being, who eventually faced and conquered his demons. Sure, it felt a bit rushed, and the resolution of his character arc came in the form of a pep-talk from his girlfriend, but I'm ok with that. It's a chilché, but not exactly a bad one.

I must admit that his "It's my job not to be" catchphrase didn't make any sort of return after he got his ring. Especially since the whole "fearlessness" thing was so damn important to the Lanterns in the first place. It seemed like the sort of thing they were gonna whip out at some point, but I guess they forgot about it.

Overall, if you're a Green Lantern fan this movie probably isn't for you. Everyone else will probably enjoy it. Funny how that works.