Movie Review: Green Lantern

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Of the summer super hero movies released to date, this is the weakest of the group so far. Not saying that it's bad, it just didn't live up to the expectations that has been set by Thor and the X-Men. Those other movies set the bar high for this block buster season and while it wasn't the brightest day or the blackest night, Green Lantern didn't land in the extremes, it was just fair to middling.

Like so many of our modern day protagonists, our hero-to-be Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) has daddy issues. His dad was a great pilot who died in the call of duty while little Hal was watching. Little Hal grew up and also became a great pilot as demonstrated in a sequence taking cues from Top Gun with Maverick and Goose but in this rendition, the secondary pilot is nicknamed Sapphire and she just happens to be the bosses daughter, real name Carol Ferris (a brunette Blake Lively). Not only is she Jordan's flight team partner, but they used to be an item complicating the team dynamics. During a training sequence Jordan breaks the rules and ends up with severe consequences, although not as dire as what happened to Goose.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Lost Sector of the universe there is an evil force that has gotten loose, is traveling and now gaining strength. When it arrives in sector 2814 which is protected by a green lantern Abin Sur (an unrecognizable Temura Morrison) just one of 3600 green lanterns set up to protect the universe; the evil force fights and injures Abin Sur who escapes to the nearest inhabited planet which happens to be Earth. The power of the green lantern seems to have its own intelligence and is sent forth by Abin Sur to find a replacement for himself since he knows that he's dying. Who better to replace him but Earthling Hal Jordan.

Like any good super hero origin story the appointed hero-to-be has moments of doubt. Jordan ends up putting on the ring and is transported to the planet Oa where the Guardians who created the ring's power and the legion of green lanterns who use the ring's power is headquartered. The head lantern Sinestro (Mark Strong) feels that Jordan is pathetic as a replacement for Abin Sur who is revered among the lanterns. Jordan meets Tomar-Re and Kilowog (voiced by Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan respectively) who give him the background of the green lantern corps and training on how to use the power of the ring. Jordan doesn't believe he can do it and goes home to Earth. You could say that had an uh Oa moment.

Back on Earth, Abin Sur's body is found by the government and examined by a crypto zoologist Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard) who ends up getting infected by the evil force which was responsible for Abin Sur's death. Within Hammond the evil force grows and eventually causes a transformation of Hammond's body and attracts the larger evil force to Earth. Eventually Jordan has to make a decision if he's good enough and believes in himself enough to battle the evil force and win with the fate of the Earth and the girl hanging in the balance.

The pacing of the story was awkward with the segregation between planet Oa in the set up, then Earth and finally to the big show down. Sarsgaard as the infected guy just didn't seem right. He's a regular guy while having his own daddy issues manifested to bring out this part of him that just didn't seem to be there before in the short set up. The conflicts between Jordan, Hammond and Ferris seemed contrived and forced. When the big battles which gave the PG-13 rating for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence happened there was action of a milder type that didn't leave you hanging on the edge of your seat at any time wondering if the good guy was going to pull through. You know in the long run the good guy will pull through, but what will they have to go through in order to cross the finish line. Were there enough challenges that they overcame that made you want to cheer for them?

The effects laden moments of the film leave you with the ohhh and ahhh factor. Reynolds gets to show off his body both directly and indirectly as the lantern costume instead of being cloth is created by the force of the ring. The movements ebb and flow under the power of the lantern's will and constitutes the green light which constructs the suit and mask. With the intelligence of the ring it determines if the mask is needed or not. Couldn't we all use a mind reading ring! The acting is based on the script and so with the issues already mentioned the actors live up to what was given to them.

At the end of the movie, hang around until the middle of the credits. There is an extra scene that will set up for a sequel if the numbers and responses are good enough. When all 95 minutes were done, I wasn't left wanting to rush out of my seat to get out of there, but I also did think, is this all? So Green Lantern, welcome to the the land of fair to middling.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: X-Men: First Class

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Two weeks ago there was only one new movie to rule the weekend and this week there is only one new release, but will it rule the weekend coming after the long Memorial Day weekend releases. X-Men: First Class comes into the weekend with formitable foes including Thor, Captain Jack Sparrow, a furry panda and three guys trying to figure out what happened during their overnight bender. The mutants learned how to control their powers and be worthy adversaries!

Some people call this a reboot of the series and some people are calling it just a pure and simple prequel. I would agree with both. First off, it is a prequel. It brings us back to the day when a young Charles Xavier, Raven, and Erik Lehnsherr are first discovering their powers. Charles and Raven at the Xavier estate and Erik at the hands of the Nazis. These few moments in the life of each one sets them on a path that will both bring together and then divide them. Jump ahead from the 1940s to the 1960s where we meet up with the adult versions of Xavier (James McAvoy), Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender). These paths end up crossing in what is the real story of what caused the Cuban Missile Crisis, wink. In a sense, the movie is a reboot taking characters that we've already met and using them to tell their individual stories from their earlier lives. But because they are not telling us the same story again, is it truly a reboot?

Part of the fun of the summer movie season is the big block buster movies that spend a lot of money on special effects and effects that look good. This movie delivers on multiple detail levels whether it's the alterations they've made for locations to add extra features, tweaks to the appearances of objects or, for this movie specifically, the mutant powers which come alive before our eyes. The blue skin of Mystique or Beast along with his blue skin and additional fur or watching Angel's wings come from resting form to wings that can lift her aloft like a pixie are examples for the blending of art and science to make a believable story.

Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon...sorry no six degree of separation jokes here) feels that the mutants are the next stage of evolution brought about by the nuclear age causing the changes within the DNA of a human. Bryan Singer who directed and wrote the original X-Men and X2 ended up providing the story for First Class. Singer in his story tied actual history, that of the Cuban Missile Crisis to the formation of Professor X's X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. Shaw's idea is to force the USSR and the USA to use their nukes against each other thinking they would take out the bad guy being of course, the other guy while not knowing the truly bad guy, Shaw, was the puppet master pulling the strings.

The movie runs 132 minutes and it's needed. Over the course of the movie introductions to about a dozen or so different mutants are covered. Along the way, if you've seen any of the previous movies, you'll be going "oh...that's why" or "ahhhh" as little pieces of the X-men universe, personas, devices, tie-ins or future mutants are put forth, some just as little nuggets, to be discovered or explained. By the time the movie ends you'll be left wanting for more.

The only part of the movie that was weak to me was the development of the relationship between Charles and Erik. Erik was a man with a chip on his shoulder with a task to accomplish due to his Nazi captors. It's understandable after being tourtured. Charles had the pampered life of privilege. When the two team up to accomplish an extremely difficult task, yeah, they are friendly. But in the end, when Charles says, "Killing will not bring you peace." to which Erik responds "Peace was never an option." you just know that no good will come from it. As the two "friends" diverge and Mystique chooses Magneto, she comments how Charles can never fully understand since his power is not betrayed by his appearance. She has a good point.

Now comes the question will they do a sequel of the prequel, or will they jump to somewhere else in the time line of the X-Men universe. We'll just have to wait and see. If they can keep the writing and action on par with this movie, I'll be there to buy a ticket as this was better than both X-Men: The Last Stand and the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movies.

The movie is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity and language. I was hoping there would be an Easter egg that would tie some part of the X-Men universe into the upcoming Avengers movie but you don't have to wait to the end as one wasn't given.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.

Movie Review: Thor

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The big summer blockbusters have started this week with the release of Thor. I trekked out to my local Regal theater and based on the information I was given last week, I decided to try to new food offerings. I ordered the jalapeno poppers, paid my money and was moving over to the side when my cashier called over to order, an assistant manager barked out that he told them that they didn't have the new stuff. I took my refund and headed into the theater. It was one of the smaller theaters holding about 180 seats. When the movie started the theater has about half full of people including two babies and four cell phones without their ringers turned off. You probably know where I'll go with them later. I was happy to find out at least at this time prices didn't go up and the cost for my 2D version of the movie remained the same. The movie was not a great, but at least a very good start for the string of blockbusters due to roll out over the next couple of months.

The action starts off pretty quickly with scientists Jane Foster and Erik Salvig (Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgård) out in the New Mexico desert when an anomaly in the sky occurs. They take their vehicle and rush to the disturbance which is now touching the ground and they hit something. When the dust clears they see a man laying on the ground. When Jane asks how did he get there we travel through space to a gleaming golden city into a huge throne room. On the throne is Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and his sons Thor and Loki (Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston) are before him. So right off the bat we are treated to some action, superb special effects and backstory to kick off the origin story for our hero Thor.

Director Kenneth Branagh leads us through what caused arrogant and insolent Thor to be banished from Asgard and sent to earth. You would think if your Dad is an all powerful king and fighter and if he tells you not to do something, you'd think that you'd listen to him! In the process of banishment Thor is stripped of his powers and his special hammer Mjöllnir It's at that point where we go back to earth and pick up Thor laying on the ground after being clipped by Jane's truck.

We see that things back in Asgard aren't as rosey as they had originally seemed and Thor's pals Sif, Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral (Jaimie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano and Josh Dallas) realize they need to travel to Earth to retrieve their pal and bring him back to try to set the situation straight. In the mean time a nasty metal robot man called the Destroyer which shoots really strong beams of fire out of its widened eye sockets is sent to Earth too in order to stop Thor who has none on his special powers. He can use his battle training, but that's about it as his piercing blue eyes, big muscles and roguish smile only work on the ladies.

The movie works on most levels. There are great special effects. Asgard and Bifrost, the bridge aka worm hole that took Odin and his forces to other realms looked wonderful on the screen. The origin story is laid out neatly for us, pretty straight forward there. The love interest between a god and a human. Good vs evil. The foundation for SHIELD and the upcoming Avengers movie was referenced including a nod to Ironman and Tony Stark. There were some good moments of comedy some of it coming from Hemsworth and several times Portman.

Where the movie fell short was really setting up the dramatic moments that kept us on the edge of our seats. Three of the big fight scenes were good but were a little short of the extra umph that would make us go "YEAH!" out loud. Even the Easter egg with Nick Fury was worthy of sitting through the credits. What didn't work was the people who didn't turn off their ringers including the one person who had his set on the old fashioned phone ringer that went off four times and the two babies who didn't like the volume multiple times throughout the 114 minute running time. For that reason it was one of the toughest movies I've seen lately due to the crowd but not the presentation.

It was near Ironman good, but lacked slightly. Thor was rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi action/violence and while the ladies got to enjoy a buff Hemsworth with his shirt off, the guys didn't get quite as much with either Portman or Alexander. Let's see if Green Lantern releasing in June and Captain America with its July release date offer the same level of story and excitement.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.