Green Lantern (3D)
20 Jun 2011. Location: Cinema
Although I didn't read any reviews before I saw this, I couldn't help but hear the general buzz about Green Lantern. Yeah. And in many ways, I'm glad I did, because it severely dropped my expectations for the film, which is probably why I was fairly entertained by it.
I blame Marvel. It seems that although there's a constant rumbling of disapproval from certain quarters, Marvel really have spoiled us over the last ten years or so. They've spoiled us to the point that superhero movies have become more sophisticated than their 1950's/60's comic book roots. Even the first Sam Raimi Spider-man movie seems dated by the standards of Thor and X-Men: First Class.
So when you pull a DC Comics story out of 1959, you tend to get a very generic origins movie. Very. Generic. I wouldn't call it awful, in fact I'd barely call it bad, but it's certainly in tried and tested waters. Stagnant, almost. It's probably going to be a bigger pull for the younger crowd (ie the under-10's) who are newer to this sort of thing. And obviously I understand why it needs to be the way it does, but DC can't seriously have sat around their board tables for 10 years and only have this to show? Even at their most cheesy, Marvel are at least on-par with this.
The whole thing just reeks of the hero's journey, but with no adaptation other than name-changes. If it'd been made ten years earlier, and had been a purely animated feature, it'd be easier to forgive the cardboard plot, script and characters. But it was made in 2011. Ah well.
Leaving that aside, I did find it entertaining, if not engaging. The 3D is used rather nicely (a rarity this year), and the effects are (for the most part) great looking, and the actors play their parts as well as can be expected. I particularly liked Tem Morrison; You can take the guy out of Jango Fett...
While we're on the subject of Star Wars, those guardian dudes reminded me of a mashup between Blue Yoda from the Marvel 'Empire' adaptation, and Shu Mai from 'Attack of the Clones'...
All in all: It feels like a long movie, yet rushed at the same time. If you haven't seen any other superhero films ever, you'll probably enjoy this. Otherwise, there's absolutely nothing new here. But does there need to be..?
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
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