My Money's Worth on Green Lantern: Neither was it Brightest Day Nor Blackest Night

Finally got the chance to catch Green Lantern in the cinemas with the girlfriend this evening. As per my previous post, this was one of the few movies that I really looked forward to this summer as I've recently developed great respect and admiration for the green-clad ring-bearer of the DC Universe.

Off the bat, I have to say I was impressed by this movie. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a great movie, or a "wow" movie, to quote the girlfriend. Then again neither was it a flop by my measure.

The movie is an origins story of Hal Jordan (played by Ryan Reynolds)as he goes through life from working as a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft, run by Carol Ferris (Blake Lively) to becoming one of the greatest to ever wear the emerald ring on his middle finger. It also introduces the rest of the Green Lantern Corps, including drillmaster Killowog (voiced by Michael Clark Duncan), the wise Tomar-Re (voiced by Geoffrey Rush), and Corps leader Sinestro (Mark Strong). It also gives audiences a first glimpse of the green light of willpower's worst enemy, the yellow light of fear, as symbolized by the evil entity Paralax.

Super 8: Super? Riiiiiiiiight...

When you hear about a collaborative effort by Lost creator and Star Trek director JJ Abrams and THE Steven Spielberg, you have to think it's going to be a movie that's going to take your breath away with its story-telling and good filmmaking. Well, at least you would think that it would be a really good one.

Enter Super 8, a movie about a group of pre-adolescent kids who, in the process of shooting a short film on an 8mm camera, stumble upon a catastrophe that blows a secret US Air Force operation into the open. They then embark on a mission to finish their film while using the ensuing chaos and commotion brought about by the catastrophe and the Air Force's subsequent takeover of their hometown as the backdrop.

Well, at least that should have been how the story progressed if they wanted to keep the title relevant.

X-Men: First Class - Subtlety in Acting, Not in Lines nor in Costumes

I was always sort of a fan of the X-Men comic books. I found the idea of being a mutant very... interesting to say the least. I started following them during my high school days but never really got into "cult" status. I merely knew the central characters, most of their powers, and a bit of their back stories. It also helped that during those times, there were local versions of trading cards of Marvel Superheroes circulating in the kids' world, and me and my friends collected the cards.

And so, when the first X-Men flick came out, I was actually kind of... disappointed. Here were some of my favorite Marvel characters (I always held Spider-Man in high regard) and Hollywood was... Hollywoodifying them! Halle Berry as Storm?!? A Wolverine that stood past 5'3? A Jean Grey who wasn't as pretty as the one in the comics?!? Blasphemy (and here I was saying I wasn't a fanboy). The only good casting I saw from the first films (I am sure that girls who are completely going gaga over Hugh Jackman would disagree) were the ones of Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen). These two actors were perfect fits for the characters that they portrayed (though I personally figured Magneto to be a bit younger and more... fit)