GREEN LANTERN

Green Lantern stars Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong, Peter Sarsgaard, Tim Robbins, Temuera Morrison and Angela Bassett. Directed by Martin Campbell. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. Studio: Warner Bros. Based on the DC comic book character.

Plot: In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds). Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity.

Warner Brothers is risking a lot on Green Lantern. It's the first movie of the DC comic book superhero's besides Batman and Superman. Green Lantern is a tougher sell too because he is definitely not as well known as Batman or Superman. So WB goes out and spends 200 million dollars making the movie and that price is without marketing costs. The result is mixed at best but I have to say I did enjoy Green Lantern and it is pretty much my guilty pleasure of the summer.

Let's start with the Green Lantern himself Ryan Reynolds. Going into the movie I believed he would be great for the part. For the most part I was right but there were still a few flaws. The character of Hal Jordan was definitely not fully developed. He starts out as a cocky guy who you don't really care for at all. Then of course, he gets superpowers and starts to care for other people. The thing that gets me is that when Hal goes to the planet Oa and meets the other Lantern members, he doesn't seem the slightest bit freaked out that he is on a distant planet conversing with aliens. I mean I guess Reynolds did fine with what he was given but the writers could have worked on the character of Hal Jordan a lot more. There is also the part of the movie where Hal deals with his own fear because the members of the Green Lantern Corp. are supposed to be fearless.

Hal's fear comes from witnessing his own hot shot fighter pilot dad being blown to pieces right in front of him as a child. While this element of the film is cheesy, it worked for me and I believe that is where Ryan Reynolds brought some emotion to the character. Overall Reynolds was good, but if is character was written better, then he would have been better. I do believe Reynolds is a good actor ever since seeing Buried, in which he really showed off his acting chops. The rest of the cast was hit and miss. Blake Lively was pretty useless as Carol Ferris and love interest to Hal Jordan. She wasn't horrible but not very good either. Again I believe it had to do with the script because her character was not interesting. So any scenes between her and Hal slow down the pace of the movie. Mark Strong was good as Sinestro, who is a mentor to Hal and helps him learn about his powers on the planet Oa. Oa is basically the home planet to all of the Green Lantern Corp. members.

Peter Sarsgaard plays a scientist who gains telekinetic powers after being infected by a dead alien. He is definitely a villain but unfortunately not a good one. I'm sorry but the character looked absolutely ridiculous since he looked exactly like the Elephant Man with his giant disfigured head. He just isn't a very convincing villain and doesn't come off as very threatening. Sarsgaard did fine but again the script screws up another character. Luckily there is another villain called Parallax (where they came up with that name I have no idea). Parallax is basically a giant brown cloud that devours planets. I know it sounds stupid but the scenes with Parallax look great and they provide some really cool action scenes including the climax of the movie.

The story was pretty good though and it did entertain me throughout. I have to say that the special effects were very solid and looked good throughout the film. Since Hal Jordan's powers are limitless, the special effects are put to good use and are very creative. For your information the power of the Green Lantern's come from their rings and the skin like material that covers their entire body. Their rings and body suit harness energy that comes from their will power. Anything they think up in their head becomes a reality in the from of green energy. I know it sounds kind of lame but the way it translates on screen is pretty cool and once again looked pretty badass. Here are just some of the things Hal conjures up in the many action scenes: swords, machine guns, a giant fist, and a cannon to battle the evil Parallax. I also have to say that Green Lantern actually worked in 3D. The images came out clear and the action scenes looked good.

Green Lantern is by no means a great film and nowhere near the top 10 superhero movies, but for what it is I enjoyed it. It is light summer fun and definitely isn't meant to have the tone of superhero movies like The Dark Knight. Ryan Reynolds does decent work as Hal, Mark Strong is good as Sinestro and the film has cool action sequences. If there is a sequel to this movie (by no means is it for sure though since the film did garner bad reviews and had a so-so opening weekend) I have faith that it can get better. They just need to hire GOOD screenwriters, work hard on the script and develop the characters. If Warner Bros. and DC can do that and keep the cool stylish action, there can be a Green Lantern franchise.

B

SUPER 8

Super 8 stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Riley Griffiths, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Ryan Lee and Zack Mills. Directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Mr. Steven Spielberg. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 1 hour and 52 minutes.

Plot: In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth – something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.

Super 8 is directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. So it can't be bad right? Don't worry it isn't bad and could very well be one of the best movies of the summer....and year. J.J. Abrams already had a promising directing career since he directed the third Mission Impossible movie and the fantastic Star Trek reboot. Super 8 is pretty much the icing on the cake for his career and is clearly his most ambitious film to date. The film had humor, drama and some great action scenes. To me you can't get a better summer movie than Super 8. Since the film revolved around a group of kids who liked to make movies, I could very easily see Abrams being one of these kids and it makes me wonder that some of the events in the movie were based on his own childhood, except the parts about the alien monster of course.

The cast Abrams rounded up for this film is simply phenomenal. I was very impressed by most of the young actors because for many of them Super 8 was their first acting gig ever! Joel Courtney was very good as Joe Lamb. He recently lost his mother in a work related accident and is left in care with his dad Jack who is played by Kyle Chandler. While Jack is a great deputy he is very distant with his son and doesn't really have the slightest idea on how to be a father. Joe is helping his best friend Charles (Riley Griffiths) finish up a low budget zombie film for a local film festival. Griffiths was very good as well as the demanding, bossy friend who has a passion for directing movies. Elle Fanning, who is a revelation in this movie, plays Alice who is Joe's school crush and they begin to bond while making the movie. That very same bond though is tested by both of their fathers. Alice's father may of had something to do with Joe's mother's death and his dad wants him to have nothing to do with Alice and her father.

One night while shooting at a nearby train station the kids witness a horrific train crash that may or may not have been an accident. The train crash scene was simply amazing and it is one of the best action scenes I have seen in some time. And of course as seen in the trailers something is released from the wreckage of the train. To me the brilliance of this movie is that it doesn't really focus on the alien. The movie is about these kids and what they are going through in their lives. The alien is simply a backdrop to the story and yet is still involved in the plot in a very cool way. The rest of the movie deals with the kids discovering the alien and finding out what it wants and why it is here. That's all I will say about the story since I don't want to give too much away. Trust me it will be very worth your while. This movie is obviously inspired by classic movies like E.T., The Goonies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and even Cloverfield. While having elements from all of those movies, Super 8 is still it's own movie and a decent one at that.

I did have a few problems with Super 8 though. Kyle Chandler who plays Joe's father is simply not involved in the final act enough. Especially since he is a cop in the town. I feel like his character was cheated. That being said I'm glad to see Chandler in a big movie for once since he does great work on the T.V. show Friday Night Lights. I also think the final confrontation between Joe's father and Alice's father was a little cheesy. It also seemed that the monster was dealt with rather easily near the end and if you see the movie I think you will know what I am talking about.

Problems aside Super 8 is as good as summer movies can get. It had adventure, humor, action, drama and a nostalgia factor that reminds you of older Spielberg movies like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. That's the beauty of Super 8 because it reminds you of those classic films but still has it's own story to tell. At it's a pretty damn good story too.

B+

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

X-Men First Class stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult and Lucas Till. Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 2 hours and 11 minutes.

Plot: Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to prevent nuclear Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X's X-Men.

The X-Men movie franchise was getting a little stale especially with the redundant Wolverine movie. But thank you movie gods for giving Matthew Vaughn the chance to reinvent the franchise with a burst of creative energy that is X-Men: First Class. The entire cast was very impressive and I think everyone did a good job. James McAvoy is a perfect younger Charles Xavier. He plays him with this womanizing swagger but also with the wise persona that Patrick Stewart had in the original X-Men trilogy. Michael Fassbender is a revelation as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto. Since Magneto is a Holocaust survivor and endured some horrible incidents, who ever portrays him has to make us empathize for him. Fassbender does just that and more. You feel for Magneto and you also understand why he is doing what he does. It was pretty cool seeing Magneto traveling the world hell bent on revenge on the people responsible for his mothers death. Fassbender played him with this James Bond-esque style (watch out Daniel Craig!) as he was slick and instead of having cool gadgets, he uses his magnetic powers.

Kevin Bacon was a pretty good villain. He was mean, lean and determined on starting World War 3. The only thing I didn't like about his character was that his mutant power was kind of lame as he could absorb energy (does't sound to bad guyish). His sidekick is Emma Frost (played by January Jones). She has the power to turn her body into crystallized armor and is also a telepath. Let's just say Jones isn't the greatest actress in the world but hey she looked good in those outfits! Jennifer Lawrence portrays a younger Mystique and she brings some very human characteristics to the shapeshifting mutant. She is self conscious about her appearance and rightfully so since her normal body is a blue almost alien looking thing. Lawrence brings the problems of any teenaged girl to a young Mystique and does it very convincingly. Nicholas Hoult was also pretty good as a young Hank McCoy/ Beast. He also has some self conscious issues about his appearance and you see him and Mystique form a bond which is eventually broken by Magneto. At first I didn't really get what Beast's power was but once he underwent his furry blue transformation it was pretty clear and pretty badass. Overall this is a very good ensemble cast. There is also a very brief appearance by a certain clawed fellow which makes the film even better.

I have to give some major props to director Matthew Vaughn. He took a dying franchise and re invented it in a very good way. Another amazing feat was that he basically had only a year to put the whole film together and I found that to be very impressive. He obviously has a knack for comic book films since he directed last years Kick-Ass which was also a good movie. I am also grateful that the studio didn't make the movie in 3D. The story Vaughn cooked up for this one was excellent. Seeing how Charles Xavier and Magneto first met was an interesting story point that the original X-Men movies seemed to ignore. Starting out as allies to bring together mutants to save the world sounds textbook at best, but these actors bring the story to life and most of the time it is compelling and heartbreaking to see these two friends eventually turn against each other because of their differences. It was also pretty epic to see the young mutants take sides once Charles and Magnetos differences were out in the open. You also get to see how Professor X winds up in that wheel chair. That aspect of the movie was handled very well.

The special effects were some of the best I have seen in a long time. Especially the grand finale when you see the mutants working as a team using all of their powers, that scene was just awesome. This movie answers a lot of questions that the original X-men movies ignored. How did Professor X end up in a wheel chair? Whats the purpose of Magneto's helmet? These are just a few of the questions that are answered very well in the movie.

X-Men: First Class is smart, sexy, funny, big and simply just epic. Even if you are not a fan of the X-Men comics (me) I urge you to see this movie, its that good! I really hope they make a sequel because they have a lot of storys to choose from and a lot of mutants to use. I am confident that if Matthew Vaughn returns to direct, the primary cast returns and they throw in a few new mutants, the sequel will be just as good or even better. This is by far the best X-Men movie in my opinion.

A-