Green Lantern & Superman on the Avengers

Had a second viewing of The Avengers this afternoon, and my buddy lamented the Justice League movie that could've been.

I thought it best for Green Lantern and Superman to discuss it.

Superhero ABCs: The Finale

This is it. The final entry in my Superhero ABC's. It's been a long journey from the Avengers to X-Men...and for today's final explosive post, I give you the Y and Z to complete the superheroic alphabet.

Y is for Yellow.

Y was the most difficult letter to pin down for this entire "event." My options were very limited, and I considered doing something like "Young Justice," "youthfulness," or "Ymir" (frost giant from the Thor universe).

I didn't like any of those.

I ended up settling on "yellow." Trust me, it's not because I'm in love with Coldplay.

In the early days of Green Lantern (the Hal Jordan version), we learned that the hero had a certain weakness: his power ring would not work on anything yellow. This was a supremely stupid and, it seemed, arbitrary weakness. Okay, that's exactly what it was. It was such a stupid idea, in fact, that years later yellow was changed through the alchemy-like magic of retroactive continuity as being symbolic for fear. Still stupid, yes, but not quite as stupid. Sort of.

For my Superhero ABC's, yellow is the perfect representation of something many heroes have: a weakness. Many of our heroes have an Achilles heel. For Superman, it's Kryptonite (he's also vulnerable to magic). Martian Manhunter has an aversion to fire. Aquaman can't stay on land for too long. Batman's single-minded focus on stopping criminals can work against him (as it did in the "Knightfall" storyline when all of Arkham's inmates escaped; the Batman of the Nolanverse is often bruised and battered...with the character stating that "Batman has no limits"). Familial and personal relationships can also become weaknesses (which is the reason many heroes have secret identities).

And now for the grand finale...

Z is for Zeitgeist.

Superheroes and comic books capture the feel of an era. In the above picture, you see Captain America punching Hitler. Cap was a product of the rah-rah, "Go America!" era of World War II. He was consciously created to be a symbol of a greater, patriotic America.

The hero is a good illustration for this concept of zeitgeist. He began as pro-America propaganda, briefly became a Commie-smasher, abandoned his identity during the Watergate scandal (becoming Nomad, "man without a country"), confronted several prominent social and political themes in the 80s and 90s, and opposed the Superhuman Registration Act (itself a kind of stand in for a Patriot Act-era America).

Cap, of course, isn't the only hero to capture the essence of an era. Golden Age heroes harken back to a simpler, more black and white time. Silver Age heroes represent a goofier, more carefree era, while Bronze Age heroes tend to tackle darker subject matter and more complex sociopolitical themes. These are generalizations, of course, but they reflect the development of American society.

Previous Entries:

Z is for Zeitgeist
Y is for Yellow
X is for the X-Men
W is for Wolverine
V is for Villains
U is for Uniform
T is for The Tick
S is for Spider-Man
R is for Robin
Q is for The Question
P is for The Punisher
O is for Origin Story
N is for Nite Owl
M is for Metropolis
L is for Lois Lane
K is for Kal-El
J is for J'onn J'onzz
I is for Iron Man
H is for the Human Bullet
G is for Green Lantern
F is for the Flash
E is for Events
D is for Dr. Fate
C is for Captain America
B is for Batman
A is for The Avengers

Superhero ABCs: Letter G

G is for Green Lantern.

In brightest day, in blackest night
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power... Green Lantern's light!

So, yeah, Green Lantern started out as a railroad engineer dressed in a predominantly red costume.

Years later, he would become Ryan Reynolds in a predominantly fake costume.

In all seriousness, I like the Green Lantern because the character shows us there's more "out there" than just earth. Sure, Superman is an alien, Martian Manhunter is an alien, but Green Lantern gives the DC Universe a certain sense of scope. The Corps is basically an intergalactic police/peacekeeping force where members deemed worthy of power rings patrol and protect different sectors.

The Lanterns have a great oath and a snazzy logo. There are thousands of members representing different races across the universe. Those who don power rings are limited only in their willpower and imagination in what the ring can do.

Tomorrow: Fire me, boy!

Previous Entries:

F is for the Flash
E is for Events
D is for Dr. Fate
C is for Captain America
B is for Batman
A is for The Avengers

Coming Soon...

Coming Soon to the blog...

ACTION!

ADVENTURE!

ROMANCE!

ER...BROMANCE!

Green Lantern and Superman (Pez dispensers) shake the city of Springfield, Illinois, to its very core with a bold road trip packed with derring-do, superheroics, and a little history!

Ranking the Summer Movies

I'm a quasi-movie buff. I love going to the theater even though it's absurdly expensive. During the summer, my wife and I see most of the big ones. So today, I'm ranking the summer movies.

Keep in mind I haven't seen EVERYTHING out this summer, but I have seen most of the blockbusters. We'll start with my least favorite and end with my top flick of the summer. Overall, I liked something about each movie I went to see.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon: I loved the first Transformers movie. Once Optimus Prime spoke, I was hooked. It was a fun movie. The second one...well...let's just say it was an acquired taste. The third movie was enjoyable, but I felt like I'd seen it before. Jumpy, jittery Sam Witwicky. Noble, heroic Prime and Bumblebee. Scene-chewing, abrasive Agent Simmons. Nonsensical, overly-complicated "plot." Explosions. Transformations. Too much going on at one time. Like Revenge of the Fallen, the final battle scene was confusing. Still not a bad way to spend an afternoon, however.

Cowboys & Aliens: I saw this one Friday night. You know, it was actually a lot of fun. They managed to play this one straight and Harrison Ford got all the good lines. I'm not sure if audiences will embrace it because it's such a strange departure from anything else. For the most part, it's a straight-up western with fantastical elements. Still trying to figure out how I felt about this one.

Green Lantern: This movie made a lot of "worst of" lists for the summer. I can definitely see why. Really, GL is a mess. However, the film has an earnestness that I felt saved it...and Ryan Reynolds did a good job with it. I also enjoyed the scope of the special effects and admired the attempt to widen the scope of our recent superhero movies. Ultimately, the numbers don't lie--Green Lantern was a major flop financially. A few script tweaks and it could've soared.

X-Men: First Class: From a quality standpoint, this one should probably rate higher. Through and through, it's a well-made film. The acting is good, most of the effects are good. There's nothing "technically" wrong with it. However, it just didn't quite "click" for me. Kevin Bacon wasn't a very good villain, and the "first class" mutants were a bunch of nobodies. Hugh Jackman had a great cameo and the Xavier/Magneto dynamic worked extremely well.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II: There was no camping in this movie. Part I was two hours and 15 minutes, but felt like three and a half hours. Part II was the same length, but felt much shorter. This was a tighter movie with a lot of payoff for Potter fans. I've never read the books and am acquainted primarily with J.K. Rowling's world through the movies. I thought it was very effective, even though I understand a good deal was cut from the books. My wife loved it--she's the Harry Potter fanatic--and that's good enough for me.

Thor: I wanted to get around to seeing this one again, but never did. Thor had the Iron Man vibe the second Iron Man movie lacked. On the other hand, it also had that "let's cram in another Avengers reference because we have to" vibe that weakened Iron Man 2. A strong supporting cast, nice moments of humor, and a good performance from Chris Hemsworth made it all work. I could see where this one would be hard to swallow for a lot of moviegoers. The whole Asgard thing seems so different from the Iron Man/Incredible Hulk worlds previously introduced in the Marvel Universe. I bet it seemed less "grounded" for many folks.

Captain America: I can't begin to tell you how much I loved Cap. He's always been one of my favorite characters and this movie did him justice. Great villain, great story, great atmosphere...I thought they nailed it on this one. From the scrawny Steve Rogers to the USO set piece (I'm still humming that stupid song!) to HYDRA and the Howard Hughes-esque Howard Stark, I loved it. I did see Cap twice...and I'd gladly go see it again.

Superhero Summer Slump

Yahoo! posted an article this weekend about the failure of this year's crop of superhero movies (you can read it here).

This should've been the Summer of the Superheroes.

Instead, many people walked away from Green Lantern unbelievably disappointed, Thor hasn't been the Iron Man-like hit Marvel wanted, and X-Men: First Class was a good movie that hasn't lit up the box office.

I've seen all three movies. On some level, I enjoyed each one of them, but here's my analysis of why each movie has failed to capture the hearts of audiences.

All Three

They're too close together. Hollywood thinks we all have money to burn and believes people only want to see superhero movies. These flicks are big-budget spectacles that need a certain distance from each other. You can't release them so close together and hope for repeat business because the same targeted demographic will be spending its money to see the next movie coming out.

They're not Avatar. Scrap the 3D. People have caught onto 3D as being a gimmick (as it always has been!) allowing studios to change you extra money to be more uncomfortable at movies while having an inferior experience. I accidentally saw Thor in 3D (we thought the regular version was playing at our appointed time and we had read the listings wrong) and it brought NOTHING to the table. I will say Avatar did a nice job with this. I don't think the new X-Men had a 3D version, however.

Bring in the B-team. I'd venture to say Thor is more recognizable as a character than Green Lantern, but that's just me being ignorant about what the rest of the world knows about comics. Iron Man pulled it off because of a recognizable star in Robert Downey, Jr. Thor starred the guy who played Captain Kirk's father in the Star Trek reboot. Ryan Reynolds is a recognizable name, but many don't perceive him as superheroic. And while Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy were great in X-Men, your average moviegoer has no idea who they are. So not only are this summer's franchises "lesser heroes" in the public eye, the stars are as well.

Green Lantern. First off, I mostly enjoyed Green Lantern, but it did squander much of its potential. Here's why:

Too Much to Do. Green Lantern had too much going on. We had to introduce the Green Lantern Corps and the idea behind it. We had to introduce the villain Parallax and his relation to the Corps. We had to introduce Hal Jordan and the concept of his being chosen as the first human Lantern. We had to introduce his relationship with Carol Ferris. And then they threw in Hector Hammond. And Hal Jordan has father issues. Hal has to get trained. Hal has to save the day. You get the point.

Video Game World. The special effects in Green Lantern were, overall, pretty effective. But some of the little things...Reynolds' eyemask never quite felt "right"...added up. The scenes on Oa were sometimes breathtaking, but other times felt like a cutscene from a video game. Some of the ways Hal chose to use the ring were visually uninspiring.

Weak, Abstract Villain. To me, this is the biggie. These types of movies need effective villains (although Iron Man has managed, somehow, to get around this). Parallax was too abstract and didn't have a personal connection, really, to Hal Jordan. The whole movie was set up for Hal to fight a mildly irritated storm cloud with a face. The lack of a personal vendetta really hurt this one.

Mediocre Writing. A little too paint-by-the-numbers on its plot points, GL also suffered from some poor characterization and consistency. The movie talked a lot about how the death of Hal's father shaped his personality, but as the movie went on, that point seemed to get dumped. In addition, it would've probably been best to hold off introducing Tomar-Re and Kilowog...giving the role of Hal's mentor completely to Sinestro. Yes, diehard GL fans would've been upset, but they would've seen the movie anyway and we would've had a stronger connection between Hal and Sinestro.

Thor. Of the three, Thor was probably my favorite. It almost recaptured the Iron Man vibe that Marvel was going for. Like Green Lantern, it had a few things holding it back.

Superpowered...gods? Huh? Asgard was realized beautifully, but Thor is a much harder sell than Iron Man as a character. You can almost believe, somewhere, some rich guy is making a suit of armor to go and blast bad guys. You can't believe, however, that the son of a superior race of beings came to earth to learn humility. Thor's mysticism made the movie less palatable.

A little misplaced humor. Look, this is a great fish-out-of-water concept and Hemsworth did a great job. But there were some kitschy moments that didn't quite click.

X-Men: First Class. This was a solid effort with no show-killers and I'd definitely recommend it.

Where's Cyclops? Storm? What about Wolverine? Havok. Darwin. Banshee. Who the hell are these people? And why should I care about them?

The sour taste from X3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine didn't help much. X3: The Last Stand was pitiful, a movie of squandered potential. Wolverine was...um...well the video game tie-in was really good. Comic fans will never get over what they did to Deadpool. The bad feelings from these two movies may have given some fans pause about seeing yet another X-Men flick.

Oh, so you have another speech for us. About equality and crap. And politics. First Class got a little preachy at times, which I'm sure grated on some viewers. Trimming one of two of these little diatribes would've helped move things along.

But it's not all bad!

Green Lantern Pros:

*Ryan Reynolds is always watchable
*Oa visually beautiful, overwhelmingly so, at times
*Sinestro was terrific
*Movie managed to mix a sense of wonder with light humor

Thor Pros:

*Likeable hero in Thor
*Terrific supporting cast
*Memorable villain with personal vendetta
*Felt part of a larger, shared universe
*Beautiful to look at

X-Men: First Class Pros:

*Wonderfully realized relationship between Xavier & Magneto
*Laugh-out-loud Wolverine cameo
*Nice 60s retro vibe
*Kevin Bacon looked ridiculous in the Magneto helmet

Now, I have to say this: I have HIGH HOPES for Captain America. And the promo materials and trailers look incredible. You can bet I'll be there!