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According to Paul, Summer Movies: Marvel/DC

By Paul Honke

It’s open to debate, but ever since Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman,” there have been few summers that didn’t feature a comic book movie. Whether it’s Marvel, DC, Image, or Darkhorse, there is usually a comic book movie. In the 90’s comic book movies–except for “Blade”–were bad, and I mean BAD (seriously “Steel” and “Howard the Duck” were HORRIBLE).
But luckily ever since “Spiderman” and “X-men” hit the theatres, comic book movies have gotten better and now are some of the most highly anticipated movies to come out. However, there are also some very bad ones (“Electra,” “Catwoman,” and the 2003 Hulk movie). Underrated movies include “Daredevil” (watch the director’s cut) as well as the 2004 “Punisher” movie (the best out of the three “Punisher” movies so far).
Over the next few weeks I will be reviewing “Green Lantern,” “Thor,” “Captain America” and “X-men First Class.” So without further ado, let’s see if these movies are Ironman level or as fake as Wolverine’s claws in “Origins.”

“Green Lantern”

I am sorry lady fans of Ryan Reynolds, but this is not a good movie. First things first: the special effects were good and Ryan Reynolds was adequate. The space scenes were the highlight of the film (if only we could see more space scenes instead of boring made-for-TV Earth scenes).
A few main problems scream in this movie: the first was the pacing; it was far too rushed and at times felt too slow. The space scenes on Oa felt really rushed as compared to the Earth scenes, which just dragged on just so we can see a Gossip girl. The movie could be improved if the pacing allowed for longer space scenes.
A second problem is the underused characters. Ryan Reynolds does a good job at playing Hal Jordan even if the personality isn’t like it is in the comic. The underuse of characters like Sinestro, Hector, and that Gossip girl was not good. I wanted to see Sinsetro’s dark side, and see more focus on the mentor and student aspect. Hector was pretty good as his character, but in truth, other than killing a character no one cares about, and summoning Parallax, he doesn’t do much. If Parallax wasn’t in the movie, then more time could be spent developing Hector as a villain. It was nice to see the transformation from loser to lunatic, though.
And then there is the Gossip girl, who is only in there to please the teens. That’s all I am saying about that since she got too much screen time and she is not a good actor.

Another problem with the movie is just how much time was spent on Earth. The Earth scenes were good to start with as a set up, but as time went on and you got to Oa, I no longer cared at all about the Earth scenes. A good thing about “Thor” was that the amount of time on Earth and Asgard were relatively the same. “Green Lantern,” on the other hand, spent little time on Oa and a lot of time on Earth.
The fourth problem with the movie is Parallax, (who got just enough screen time to beat Venom in “Spiderman 3”). Now don’t get me wrong, a being of pure fear is very cool; it’s just that Parallax is a sequel villain. I say this because if anyone knows the comic book history of Hal Jordan, then you would know that Parallax actually corrupted him and turned him into a psychopath. (Seriously he destroys the universe and tries to recreate it.) The first villain should be Sinestro and his betrayal (spoiler for the sequel I guess). The action went by too fast and wasn’t all that good, although the training course was entertaining.
“Green Lantern” has some enjoyable moments, but the story was thinly written, the characters were forgettable, and the plot points should have been expanded more. Other than that, two out of five stars.

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  • J

    Josh SchorleAug 30, 2011 at 6:39 am

    Good job Paul. very interesting. learned some things about green lantern that i didn’t know before.

    Reply
  • A

    Alyssa AskelandAug 29, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    Good job Paul. 🙂

    Reply