It's Not Easy Being Green

You can tell by my profile pic that I may be biased on this but I really don't understand why all of the hate being is thrown Green Lantern's way.  Shelly and I saw it this past weekend and it was a fun superhero movie with lots of action and great effects.  With a notable exception or two (I'm looking at you, Blake Lively) the acting was good and the extra cash the studio poured into last-minute post production of the CGI really paid off.

So what the hell is up with the crappy reviews and everyone acting so damn disappointed by the movie?  Not every big summer action movie is going to be The Lord Of the Rings.  That's why movies like that sweep the Oscars, they're exceptional.  Has the movie-going public gotten so jaded that we expect each and every movie we see to be a triumph of film making?  Or is it that the prices at the theater have set the bar for our expectations of the quality of the movies?

For my money, Green Lantern was a very good movie.  It had all of the important elements that make up the mythos of the comics:  The Guardians, the planet Oa, the Green Lantern Corps (in its entirety!), Tomar Re, Kilowog - heck, even Parallax and Hector Hammond were part of the mix and not once did the story feel overcrowded.

Hal Jordan beats Luke Skywalker for "shortest training ever" but I guess GL boot camp might have put a crimp in the plot.  Blake Lively was almost acceptable as Carol Ferris but they could have done better.  They could have at least cast someone closer to Reynolds' age so the idea of Hal and Carol being childhood friends isn't mathematically impossible.

Other than those quibbles, I didn't see very much wrong with the movie at all.  Don't judge Green Lantern for what it could have been, just enjoy it for the popcorn-burner it is and enjoy the ride.