The Green Lantern

I was always more of a Marvel guy than a D.C guy. Superman is too perfect and Batman has always been better on screen than on the page for me. However, I always kind of dug the Green lantern. It is a totally goofy Sci-Fi adventure, with green lanterns of power, an entire galaxy of creatures who protect galaxies from things like mass energies of fear. The Green Lantern Corp comes with its own oath and everything! It was always entertaining to me as a kid because it combined those goofy B-movie type sci-fi campiness with the superhero stuff. Green Lantern was about the Corp, but also about the flawed human being who wore the ring, especially when Hal Jordan was the Lantern. However, it seemed like an awful idea for a movie. Would the general public be able to get behind the goofiness? After spending nearly 300 million dollars (reportedly) to get the CGI looking good, Warner Brothers was hoping the public would. However, the movie kind of sputtered out of the gate. Banking on Ryan Reynolds' star power might have backfired.

Hal Jordan(Reynolds) is a pilot with a death wish. He is a rebel in the air and is constantly defying orders and doing whatever he thinks is possible to be the best. This reckless attitude along with his natural instinct to run away when things get serious makes him the least likely person to receive an intergalactic ring to make him a protector of our galaxy, yet the ring chooses him. The Green Lantern ring does not make mistakes and when one of the Corp members is dying, the ring finds Jordan. At first, Jordan is elated. The ring projects anything he can dream up and makes it a reality. Plus, he can fly without a jet. However, it is a huge responsibility and he is not sure he can handle it. A Green Lantern Corp member has to be fearless, and has to clear his mind in order to be successful and Jordan is not that guy. However, as the giant evil cloud of fear gets closer to taking out Earth, Jordan must find it within himself to man up and take a stand for all of human kind. There is also a love story with Carol Ferris(Blake Lively) and a human villain, Hector Hammond(Peter Sarsgaard) who has the Green Lantern powers, but he uses fear as his motivator and eventual downfall.

The Green Lantern is not nearly as bad as it is being made out to be. I know that is not exactly a ringing endorsement, but that is how I feel. It is a good movie, with decent action and some good laughs and a few nice thrills, but it never quite kicks it into high gear. Reynolds is clearly a movie star capable of carrying a movie franchise, but I think he was let down by the rest of the creative team here. The script has far too much expository dialogue and not enough of anything else. The action sequences are clever and well done, but there are not enough of them and the climatic action sequence is over far too quickly. For a movie that runs a little over 2hrs, I would have expected much more action.

Reynolds and Lively make an extremely sexy couple and they have a really great chemistry, especially during the slower more tender scenes, but even they never get a chance to really light a fire under those scenes. There is too much time spent getting the lighter to ignite and not enough time watching the wick burn or explode. I think there is a very good movie to be found in the Green Lantern world now, which I did not think going in, but this is not it. A lot of time was spent on the CGI aspect and in all honesty, I think it looks pretty great. I have heard complaints about it, but I really enjoyed them. I think part of the reason why is that they look kind of goofy and Sci-Fi like and that is how they should look. I thought all of the things Jordan imagines through the ring that come true, looked great, even if the hue of green looks a little silly as the color of a Gatling gun and other various weapons. Again, The Green Lantern has always been a big goofy.

The Green Lantern comic has had various incarnations and Hal Jordan is the most famous and recognizable of this group, so it makes sense to tell this story. It also has a nice theme about fear and how to overcome it. Jordan changed the entire thought process of The Green Lantern Corp and the movie does a good job of showing that difference. I am always down for a theme and superhero comics have often been about themes of belonging and find one's place and this is no different. There is nothing really wrong with The Green Lantern, but there is nothing terribly right with it either. it just kind of exists. If you stay after the movie and about half way through the credits, you will be rewarded with a nice moment that sets up a sequel, which Warner Brothers is writing, but I would be surprised if it ever actually gets made.

Final Grade: C

Super 8

J.J Abrams gets me. He gets what I like and what I want to see. He also gets how to keep a movie mysterious and has the absolute best trailers for his movies. I truly believe Abrams is the future Spielberg, once he better figures out how to connect humanity to his epic stories. Star Trek was certainly on the path to that and it looked like Super 8 was going to make giant leaps forward in that category. It does not hurt that Spielberg was a major producer on the film and clearly his presence was felt in terms of story. I was crazy excited about this from day one. The moment i heard Abrams and Spielberg were teaming up, I was sold. My favorite director and one of my favorite up and comers together? Yes, please! There was nothing that I saw from the trailers or the reviews that made me think this movie would be less than totally awesome, which is always dangerous, as I have mentioned many times in this blog. But, I believed Abrams would not let me down! Would he?

In a sleepy Ohio town, a factory accident has left Joe Lamb(Joel Courtney) motherless. His father, Jackson(Kyle Chandler) is a well meaning man, but he is not equipped to raise a young boy on his own. Joe and his group of friends spend their days making movies and at the moment, they are making a zombie film with Charles(Riley Griffiths) as the writer and director. Joe is a master with make up, Cary does explosions, and Martin and Preston fill out the cast and crew. Charles, thinking the story is not emotional enough, decides to add a wife to the main character, Alice(Elle Fanning) is asked to be the wife. On a late night shoot near a train station, the group of kids witness an insane train derailment and total explosion. They talk to an ominous black man who warns them to keep quiet. This Ohio town is quickly overrun with military personal and Jackson, as the deputy, is soon in charge as the sheriff goes missing. It is not long after the train wreck that things start to go weird. First, all of the dogs in town leave, then electronics all over the town are either stolen or damaged, there are rolling black outs and of course, people are going missing. The young kids try hard not to talk about it and all they really want is to finish their film, but soon as the military evacuates the town, the boys set off to find answers and they find something in their footage.

Super 8 is the best movie of this year so far. It has heart, thrills, genuine laughs, and a great sense of nostalgia. It reminded me so much of all of the movies that made me a movie lover in the first place. It remembers a time when kids wanted nothing more than to be outside being creative. It has elements of Stand By Me, The Goonies, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. It also has young kids filming a zombie movie, so you have those references as well. it is a wonderful blend of low budget humanity and big budget blockbuster. It is the kind of movie I know I will watch and love many times because of the feeling it gives me. Yes, there are issues and it is not a perfect movie, but when a movie makes you feel this wonderful sense of joy, how can you really start nitpicking at it?

let us begin with the wonderful cast. The young actors in this film are just outstanding. The moments between the kids feels incredibly organic and the dialogue between them is often times hilarious and peppered with really honest lines and emotions. Elle Fanning is a star in the making for sure and she has great chemistry with Courtney and it lies at the heart of the story. Joel Courtney, in his first movie ever, is exactly what the movie needs and he really makes you believe everything he is feeling. If you have not seen Kyle Chandler in Friday Night Lights on television, you are really missing out. Very few actors can say more with a shift of weight, or with eye movement than he can. He says more with actually talking less than most actors and he brings that to the role of a father doing his best to figure out life.

Abrams knows how to direct action, there is no denying that. The train crash is about the best crash of that level I have seen. It is littered with thrills, explosions and death defying moments with the kids. He also does a great job of concealing the creature until he absolutely needs to show it to us. The final action sequence that interlocks the human side and the blockbuster side is quite a wonderful spectacle, but I felt like it never lost the human core. In fact, it kept it so intact, one of the people I saw it with thought it bordered on cheesy, but to that I say, the movie is about a father and son trying to come to terms with the death of a loved one, it had better be a little bit cheesy! I will never tire of watching people dodge tanks, bullets and exploding houses and Abrams shoots this finale in a nice blend of long and tight shots. He shoots overhead when we need to see the scope of what is going on, but he knows exactly when to pull it in and give us something intimate.

I am very much aware that there are some flaws. yes, it is a little convenient as certain points for the boys to stumble upon exactly what they are looking for, but if that is what you are focusing on, then the movie is clearly not for you, because the movie did not grab you and fill you the way it did me. I will not listen to anyone complaining about Lens Flares because it is a J.J Abrams movie and you knew what you were getting into. It is like going to a Michael Bay and complaining about sweeping slow motion shots, it is part of who Abrams is as a film maker. I am not sure Super 8 will stay my favorite movie of the year, but I am pretty sure it will end up in my top 5 and it will be a movie I love for years to come. Any movie that can combine the adventure of The Goonies and the thrills of Jurassic park is always going to be watchable in my book. Super 8 is the kind of movie that makes me glad I can just get lost in a movie.

Final Grade: A+

X-Men: The FIrst Class

The filmmakers here had an impossible task; they had to reboot a franchise nearing death, without restarting the franchise, which means they could not use the characters the general public knows and loves. X3 was a disaster and Wolverine was such an all over the place mess that I wondered why this movie was even being made. They went about it the right way, at least. Bryan Singer was back in the X-Men world, but only as a producer, story doctor and consultant. He brought in Matthew Vaughn, a wonderful and varied director, to helm the project and as the cast filled out, it looked promising. Yet, I was not sold. The original marketing was not good and while the trailer looked pretty solid, I was worried that it would be difficult to connect to these mutants that were not household names. So, with these lowered expectations, I made my way into the theater.

Erik Lehnsherr(Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier(James MacAvoy) could not be more different in terms of how to use or access their mutant powers. After being in a Concentration Camp and watching his mother get shot in front of his eyes, Lehnsherr uses anger and believes mutants should rule the Earth. Xavier wants to help humans and believes that humans are good. Yet, somehow a friendship forms. As part of a secret C.I.A team, Lehnsherr and Xavier find other mutants and begin a training facility in hopes of getting these young mutants strong enough to fight back against Sebastian Shaw(Kevin Bacon), Emma Frost(January Jones) and two other evil mutants. Against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, that was actually a plot by Shaw to gain infinite power, this is an origin story, or more like origin stories. The first class of X-Men includes Havoc(Lucas Till), Beast(Nicholas Hoult), Banshee(Caleb Landry Jones) and of course, Mystique(Jennifer Lawrence).

X-Men: First Class is the best X-Men we have. It is funny, has killer action, makes perfect use of the mutant powers and tells a wonderful story with great writing and wonderful acting. Matthew Vaughn is, by my calculations, 4 for 4 in terms of the movies he has directed. He knows how to pace this movie without letting it derail because it is, after all, a summer blockbuster. However, he lets the story hit all of the beats it need to. We get angsty mutant moments and we get the parallels between the civil rights act, or more to the point, the Nazi/Jewish parallels in the story as well. I loved how well Vaughn told this story because with so many mutants, and with a story moving in essentially three different directions, things could have gotten muddled. Direction 1 in the overall arc of Shaw as the villain, but the two other moving parts are Erik's revenge and of course, Xavier's desire to save Erik. With all of this going on, it could have easily crumbled, but Vaughn keeps it moving by effortlessly switching from kick ass action scene to quiet contemplation about the meaning of being a mutant.

This is of course helped by the wonderful acting, especially from MacAvoy, Bacon and most importantly, Fassbender. MacAvoy and Fassbender had the unenviable tasks of playing young versions of beloved characters that are played by amazing actors when the characters are older. MacAvoy is right at home playing Xavier like a playboy. it was fun to see Charles Xavier as a young, intelligent flirt who is not afraid of a lot of alcohol. So, the real task was Fassbender and what a star making performance. He is funny, angry, sincere, scary and very cool. Fassbender does what Hayden Christianson could not do: he took an iconic villain and made him human without losing the edge that lets us see that he is still going to become Magneto. He switches from accent to accent effortlessly and plays every moment in such an honest way that it makes everyone else look good as well.

Of course, this is an X-Men movie and so the action has to be crisp and it is. I loved the epic climatic battle, with all of the different characters spread out this awesome ocean landscape, but this movie is more than just the climax. And the action scenes are not always just straight up battles. There is a training montage that also provides some great action, and the scene where the young mutants reveal their abilities is very well done. The action does not overwhelm the story, but moves it forward. Azazel (think Nightcrawler, but looking like Satan) gets a lot of great action stuff to do and I loved the effect of Banshee flying and using his power. It is easy to make Havoc look cool with his red energy being flung, and when Beast gets in his full beast Mode, it is easy to make him look good as well, but to have a kind of wimpy looking kid, whose power is to high pitched frequencies, look as cool as Banshee does, you know the movie has it working.

If there is a weak spot, it is January Jones as Emma Frost. Frost should be more of a bad ass, but Jones is so weak next to the incredibly charismatic Bacon. She looks totally hot, but not entirely comfortable with her hotness, so it is kind of a bummer. I loved her silvery look and actually all of the effects were top notch, so if my only complaint is that the hot actress was not very convincing, I think that can be forgiven. X-Men: First class is a top notch entry into the Superhero genre and I hope people can look beyond the fact that there is no Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cyclops or Jean Grey and just enjoy the ride because it is definitely worth the trip!

The Hangover 2

The Hangover took the world by storm. It starred 3 not-that-famous guys, it rehashed Dude. Where's my car's plot and went on to become the highest grossing R Rated comedy of all time and I believe the third or fourth top grossing R Rated movie of all time. It was hilarious, but not super raunchy, so it had that mass appeal. Something about the chemistry of those three, mixed with a baby, a tiger, Mike Tyson and some serious memory loss resonated with the public. I loved it, as well. It has physical comedy, ridiculous situations, really funny lines and a genuinely interesting story. The Hangover could have been recut as a mystery film very easily. There was no way a sequel was not going to happen. Hollywood knows how to cash in on money making properties better than anything. The teaser trailer hinted at nothing but a very dirty Bangkok. The trailer looked like a complete retread of The Hangover and that actually suited me perfectly. With INSANE box office numbers in the opening weekend, it is clear The Hangover 2 will lead to a Hangover 3, but is it funny?

Opening with another messed up phone call about how they lost someone, Phil(Bradley Cooper), Stu(Ed Helms) and Alan(Zack Galifinakis) are at it again. There is a wedding, this time Stu is getting married to a ridiculously hot Asian girl(Jaime Chung) and as Stu has not forgotten what happened the last time this crew threw a bachelor party, he refuses to have one. Instead, Stu, Phil, Alan, Doug(Justin Bartha) and Stu's soon to be brother-in-law, Teddy(Mason Lee) grab one beer and have some marshmallows. Next thing they know, the Wolfpack is in a dingy motel room with Chow, a finger without a body and no memory. Thus repeats the pattern. The guys empty their pockets, go to a strip club, a tattoo parlor, a monk monastery, hook up with a chain smoking, drug dealing monkey. They get mixed up in the Russian mob, an Armenian arms dealer and Paul Giamatti. Oh, the person they lost is Teddy.

If you are looking for variety, go somewhere else. The Hangover 2 follows the comic, mystery and ridiculous beats from The Hangover exactly. In fact, the movie plays more like a remake than a sequel, but that is just fine with me. This is a ride I am willing to take as often as they offer it. It is just a flat out funny time. Cooper, Helms and Galifinakis make such a great comic team and they are all very much game for whatever director Todd Phillips throws at them and it makes for such an awesome adventure. I love the reactions from the characters as shit just gets crazier and crazier. yes, it is absolute stupid that this nonsense keeps happening to these same three guys, but that is a big part of what makes the second film work. These guys cannot believe this shit is happening either.

Helms is, of course, on the receiving end of most of the wildest stuff. I almost wish the face tattoo had not been revealed in the trailer, because it would be such a great reveal, but that pales in comparison for the raunchiest, funniest, nastiest thing that happens in this movie. That is what The Hangover 2 has going for it. It's raunch is actually hilarious, unlike Bridesmaids. Cooper still plays Phil as the ultimate Go-With-the-Flow attitude that helped bring levity to The Hangover and Helms is even better this time around as Stu. He is so perfectly over the top in how much he cannot believe what has happened to him. In fact, the movie goes to a petty dark place momentarily with Stu and in the third one, I hope they come back to it. Galifinakis makes Alan the right mixture of asshole and helpless child which is becoming his specialty.

I loved the flashback with the guys as kids doing the debauchery. It was a nice touch and the photos at the end are even more insane than the last time and I really liked that Doug was still around. This movie seemed less focused on the mystery and more on the insanity of what these guys do when they get black out nuts and that was fine because the kid playing Teddy did not matter much to me. I got the point of him, but I think the stakes did not matter as much to me this time. The cameo at the end is great, even though I totally should have seen it coming and really, the only negative thing I can say about this movie was that I did not come out of it with as many quotable lines. It is probably not going to be as memorable as the Hangover.

Final Grade: A-

P.S. This movie makes me want to avoid Bangkok at all costs, whereas The Hangover made me want to fly to Vegas as soon as the movie was over.