Yesterday, my family and I decided to watch the new movie Green Lantern. It was terrible.
If you're interested in it, go right ahead, but you've been warned.. :uhoh:
If any of you are interested in a spoiler, here it is:
1. Really Dark
2. Too much action and not enough of a storyline.
3. Just empty..
2. Too much action and not enough of a storyline.
3. Just empty..
If you're interested in it, go right ahead, but you've been warned.. :uhoh:
If any of you are interested in a spoiler, here it is:
"I may be a total screwup in every other part of my life. But the one thing I do know how to do is fly."
So says Hal Jordan, a seemingly fearless daredevil test pilot for Ferris Aircraft. But Hal's got a secret: He is afraid. Haunted by the fiery death of his father, who was also a test pilot, Hal isn't afraid of flying, driving and living fast. Very fast. But he is afraid of getting too close to anyone—namely ex-girlfriend and fellow test pilot Carol Ferris—or having anyone depend on him too much.
So why would he want to save the human race—not to mention the rest of the inhabited universe? Talk about having to be dependable. But that's exactly what he has to do when a Green Lantern ring chooses him to become the next member of an elite cadre of superpowered celestial sentinels tasked with guarding the galaxies from evil.
Hal's initiation happens shortly after legendary Green Lantern Abin Sur—pursued by a planet-devouring, fear-fueled monstrosity named Parallax—crash lands, mortally wounded, on Earth. An energy orb from Sur's ring immediately begins seeking out someone worthy (read: fearless) of taking up the Green Lantern mantle. With his dying breath, Abin Sur tells Hal what an honor it is to be chosen as a Green Lantern … and emphasizes the weightiness of the responsibility that comes with that accolade.
The playboy pilot loves the powers that the ring has bestowed upon him, namely flying (without the aircraft) and the ability to shape energy into objects (called constructs) with his mind. As for the duty that comes along for the ride? Well, that's another matter entirely.
After Hal's transported to the Green Lantern home world of Oa to begin Lantern training, the corps' leader, Sinestro, quickly takes his measure: Hal is an arrogant, fear-filled weakling. The first human chosen to be a Green Lantern is, in Sinestro's estimation, little more than a bad joke. He's not worthy of being a Lantern, and he certainly won't be any help stopping Parallax.
Hal needs little convincing that he isn't, in fact, up to the job, and so he meanders back to Earth. But his friend Carol believes that the ring chose him for a reason, that perhaps it saw what he could become, even if Hal seems lacking in the courage department at the moment.
It's a word of encouragement Hal will need to believe if he's to keep Parallax from destroying … everything.
Green Lantern poses some interesting questions when it comes to the relationship between the will and fear. The story rightly (if somewhat simplistically) reflects the reality that fear can undermine our ability to make good and courageous choices. That element of Green Lantern parallels the Bible's oft-repeated admonition, "Do not fear."
As long as we're talking about spiritual ideas, though, let's note that Green Lantern also replaces the biblical creation narrative with an evolutionary-based, sci-fi alternative. (Paging L. Ron Hubbard.)
The modern equation for a superhero? Self-absorbed playboy gets special suit and/or nearly omnipotent powers, misusing or dodging them for a time before embracing the truism that with great power comes great responsibility. Green Lantern eventually follows that formula to its positive end, but not before fans face scatter-shot profanity, winks at sexual immorality and Parallax violently vacuuming up the souls of his victims.
So says Hal Jordan, a seemingly fearless daredevil test pilot for Ferris Aircraft. But Hal's got a secret: He is afraid. Haunted by the fiery death of his father, who was also a test pilot, Hal isn't afraid of flying, driving and living fast. Very fast. But he is afraid of getting too close to anyone—namely ex-girlfriend and fellow test pilot Carol Ferris—or having anyone depend on him too much.
So why would he want to save the human race—not to mention the rest of the inhabited universe? Talk about having to be dependable. But that's exactly what he has to do when a Green Lantern ring chooses him to become the next member of an elite cadre of superpowered celestial sentinels tasked with guarding the galaxies from evil.
Hal's initiation happens shortly after legendary Green Lantern Abin Sur—pursued by a planet-devouring, fear-fueled monstrosity named Parallax—crash lands, mortally wounded, on Earth. An energy orb from Sur's ring immediately begins seeking out someone worthy (read: fearless) of taking up the Green Lantern mantle. With his dying breath, Abin Sur tells Hal what an honor it is to be chosen as a Green Lantern … and emphasizes the weightiness of the responsibility that comes with that accolade.
The playboy pilot loves the powers that the ring has bestowed upon him, namely flying (without the aircraft) and the ability to shape energy into objects (called constructs) with his mind. As for the duty that comes along for the ride? Well, that's another matter entirely.
After Hal's transported to the Green Lantern home world of Oa to begin Lantern training, the corps' leader, Sinestro, quickly takes his measure: Hal is an arrogant, fear-filled weakling. The first human chosen to be a Green Lantern is, in Sinestro's estimation, little more than a bad joke. He's not worthy of being a Lantern, and he certainly won't be any help stopping Parallax.
Hal needs little convincing that he isn't, in fact, up to the job, and so he meanders back to Earth. But his friend Carol believes that the ring chose him for a reason, that perhaps it saw what he could become, even if Hal seems lacking in the courage department at the moment.
It's a word of encouragement Hal will need to believe if he's to keep Parallax from destroying … everything.
Green Lantern poses some interesting questions when it comes to the relationship between the will and fear. The story rightly (if somewhat simplistically) reflects the reality that fear can undermine our ability to make good and courageous choices. That element of Green Lantern parallels the Bible's oft-repeated admonition, "Do not fear."
As long as we're talking about spiritual ideas, though, let's note that Green Lantern also replaces the biblical creation narrative with an evolutionary-based, sci-fi alternative. (Paging L. Ron Hubbard.)
The modern equation for a superhero? Self-absorbed playboy gets special suit and/or nearly omnipotent powers, misusing or dodging them for a time before embracing the truism that with great power comes great responsibility. Green Lantern eventually follows that formula to its positive end, but not before fans face scatter-shot profanity, winks at sexual immorality and Parallax violently vacuuming up the souls of his victims.
Last edited:
