Heeeeey! Sorry I haven't reviewed in a while. The past couple weeks' of movies haven't really struck me enough to review. I didn't want to review Super 8 because it would ruin a lot of the movie's suspense and wonder for those who haven't seen it yet.
Then there's Cars 2...but my theater didn't have an employee screening, so I have to wait till tomorrow (Sunday). Oh yes, there WILL be a review on that one. Probably two. One from a Pixar fangirl's POV, and one from a movie critic's POV. Why? Because this movie will require me to look at it both ways in order for me to *hopefully* like it.

ANYWAY! Green Lantern...






We didn't have an employee screening for this, and I wasn't too disappointed. Sure, I'm all for anything Ryan Reynolds does, but the trailers for Green Lantern made the movie look like pure cheese. Bad cheese.
The movie wasn't THAT bad, but it wasn't fantastic. I went in knowing it wouldn't be. Which can be a good and bad thing. Good: I didn't feel like I wasted my time. Bad: It didn't prove my suspicions wrong.
Ryan Reynolds is Hal/Earth's Green Lantern, and I don't know much about the comic, but I thought he played the part well. It was expected that the hero had to be unsure about his life, a smart ass, etc., so yeah. The movie starts off with the same-old coming of age, learn about your strengths, yadda yadda. Oh, and of course...get the girl. It seems crucial to Hollywood that there needs to be a love story to everything, and I'm mostly okay with that. I love me some romance (especially when it involves Mr. Reynolds), but dear Lord was this movie HEAVY on it.
Hal's love interest is Carol, the daughter of a major company that produces fighter planes or something like that. ---Side note: That's another Super Hero element, isn't it? The hero has to have some sort of connection to a big shot company. Yes it works for the story, but it's a *bit* too convenient for our local Lantern.
Anyway, I digress. Carol is in this movie much to much. Blake Lively is one-note. She finds Hal annoying and attractive, hates him but needs him around (she PROMOTES him when he tries to quit his job at the fighter plane company thingy! Come on...). Like I said, romance as a subplot is nice. It gives the film heart and makes you want to root for the hero so they can live happily ever after. But when there are scenes SOLELY for their relationship to develop, it's boring. Especially since Hal and Carol apparently had a thing in the past. "You forgot my birthday." "I'm sorry for how I was." Gag me, then shoot me. Turn green and fly to that awesome new planet of yours, dude.
Speaking of the planet...I can't even remember the name of it. Which should tell you something. We visit it TWICE and only meet 3 other Green Lanterns: Sinestro (Mark Strong), Kilowog (Michael Clark Duncan), and Tomar-Re (Geoffry Rush). I think my favorite scenes had to be when Hal was on this planet with these three. Upon writing this review, I didn't know Geoffry Rush was Tomar-Re, so Yay. Also, I love anything Mark Strong does. Sinestro, I knew from my little Green Lantern knowledge, was supposed to be Hal's major enemy, but I suppose this is his (Sinestro's) life as a Lantern before he got the Yellow Ring. This was probably my major problem with the movie: you don't learn anything about the Lanterns. You learn nothing about other Lanterns, their world, or what they do. Hal is just whisked away there, gets ONE combat lesson from Kilowog and he suddenly knows how to fight? Not only that, he quits? This story is way too jumbled and watered down in information.
For example...what they're fighting is made pretty clear: Fear. And it's disgusting. You couldn't go one scene without Hal saying he's "not scared" but he can't be a Lantern because they have to be "without fear". Contradicting yourself aren't ya, Hal? There's also A LOT of mumbo jumbo about Fear (aka Paralax, a giant blob of smoke that eats peoples souls by feeding off of their, you guessed it, fear), and that the only way to beat it is to have Will Power. Remember when I said the trailer was pure cheese? I may as well brought some chips into the theater with me, because the writing was ridiculous. I mean, there's even another bad guy in the movie, Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard) that doesn't even do anything for the story about Paralax. It seems like the writers need more time slapped onto the movie while Paralax moves slowly through space until finally reaching Earth, so they plucked another arch nemesis from the comics for Hal to fight in the mean time.
The CGI was also, mediocre. It wasn't unpleasant to watch (Kilowog, for instance, is pretty cool lookin' for an ugly...Lantern thingy) but it seemed like it's been done before. I can't say much for the 3D aspect of the movie since I saw it in 2D. But I bet ya, it's not worth the extra money. The glasses probably just dim the color(s). Lets just say, green. Lots and lots of green.

So, in two words Green Lantern is: predictable and undeveloped.

Should you see it? If you're a fan of the comics, go for it. I'm sure your inner nerd/child will like the flashiness of the whole thing. Try going to a 2D version, though.
Should there be a sequel? Yes. Not because I thought the movie was fantastic, but because I want to know more about the Green Lantern Corps! Lets look at this like the director is saying Green Lantern is the "back story" for Hal Jordan. The real movie is on it's way. (kind of like Dark Knight being the "real" Batman movie.)
After Credits somethin-somethin? Yep. Thankfully not at the rear end of the credits, but after the animated curtain call for the actors/producers/director. Although, it's nothing big. It lets you know they're willing to make a sequel if this one grosses well. Hard to tell right now.
DC or Marvel? I am starting think that I'm more of a Marvel girl. Their movies just feel better, ya know? I mean, take a look at the Captain America trailers! Doesn't it feel/look like Iron Man?


In theaters NOW:

Cars 2 (seeing it on Sunday, hopefully.)
Bad Teacher (seeing it sometime this week, hopefully. Might not review.)

In theaters THIS WEEK:

Transformers 3: The Dark of the Moon (hopefully seeing it Monday. It comes out the 29th (Wednesday)
Larry Crowne (I want to see this, but something about Julia Roberts just...bugs me. So we'll see about this one...)
Monte Carlo (if this comes to Galaxy, I might see it. What can I say? I like Selena Gomez. She's a good kid.)


Thanks for reading :)