Burt Likko

Pseudonymous Portlander. Homebrewer. Atheist. Recovering litigator. Recovering Republican. Recovering Catholic. Recovering divorcé. Recovering Former Editor-in-Chief of Ordinary Times. House Likko's Words: Scite Verum. Colite Iusticia. Vivere Con Gaudium.

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  1. My understanding* of the Green Lantern’s special power is that he can create literally anything he imagines. How do you craft a compelling story out of a character that omnipotent?

    Also, the previews make his suit look like a green condom.

    *N.B. – I know nothing about comic books.

    • Just have him create stuff like fists. Guns. Maybe animals (like instead of hitting someone with a fist, have someone be butted by a ram).

      You can make the created stuff interactive too… like create a treadmill and have The Flash run on it.

    • He fights similarly-powered opponents; his best super-villian adversaries are renegade Green Lanterns like himself or super-villians who tap in to the same kind of energy manipulation techniques he does. That sort of thing works in Harry Potter movies just fine.

      Nor is GL’s power unlimited — it times out when his power ring runs out of charge, there’s only so much power it can discharge at any one time, he still has to pay attention to stuff going on around him, and then there are the limits of his imagination, willpower, and courage.

      I liked this stuff, and particularly this comic book, when I was a kid. I haven’t followed the ongoing adventures of Green Lantern since DC Comics decided to retire Hal Jordan and bring in that, um, other guy who became Green Lantern after Jordan hung up his green body-condom. So I’m afraid I’ve been set up for a moviegoing letdown of Phantom Meanace proportions here.

      • Phantom Menace had the additional burden of being attached to an iconic, beloved trilogy that had radically altered cinematic expectations when it first debuted. It had a really high bar to reach in order to live up to the legendary originals.

        That is was an absolute drek-fest as a film in its own right did not help matters.

        Go in with lowered expectations and hope for the best. Or, just see X-men: First Class, which is quite good.

    • “How do you craft a compelling story out of a character that omnipotent? ”

      I understand he has a problem with Chinese villains.

      …

      …

      Because he can’t affect anything that’s the color yellow.

      bah-DOOMP! Thanks folks, I’m here all week, try the servers, tip your veal!

  2. The trailer for this had me almost positive that the film was intended to be released some time ago, it just looked like an absolute disaster. The graphics alone were shockingly poor for a movie so dependent on CGI.

    The new X-Men, though, is indeed quite good. As has been the case for at least 3 of the 5 reboot X-Men movies (discounting 3 and Wolverine), the acting is far above what the material requires, and while it’s a touch too long, I didn’t really find myself getting bored. It has a nice touch — just a touch — of camp, too.

  3. Just got back from seeing the movie. Given the RT rating, I was pleasantly surprised. It didn’t dilly-dally, as I feared it would. And it didn’t take on more than it can handle. It’s not high art, but I’d recommend it to people that like superhero movies and Green Lantern specifically.

    On the other hand, the trailers sort of screamed “Iron Man in green tights” and the movie itself didn’t quite carry that.

    The movie neither failed, nor set itself apart.

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