I may be a broken record on this subject but I can't help but feel strongly that this week's new DC Comics film adaptation,Green Lantern,is going to be a colossal failure. Part of my basis for doubt is due to casting Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan,a guy who's far too snarky to pull this role off.
Also,the persistent display of CGI,from GL's costume to the outer space menace heading for Earth that only Hal Jordan can defeat,plus his new buddies from Planet Oa,further strengthens my fear that once again, DC has dropped the ball in introducing another one of their legendary characters to the silver screen.
Now,before anyone gets too riled up,I will acknowledge that Marvel has had it's fair share of flops here. It would hard to deny that,especially with the likes of Elektra,Ghost Rider and Howard the Duck on their cinematic resume.
However,Marvel seems to bounce back better from such screw-ups-take for example the ill conceived Ang Lee version of The Hulk back in 2003.
Marvel managed to reboot the Hulk in 2008 and it was successful enough to ensure Bruce Banner's presence in the upcoming Avengers film,along side Iron Man,Thor and Captain America. Not to mention that Marvel has so far had a nice run at the movies this season with Thor and X-Men: First Class.
DC,on the other hand,has had it's only luck in recent years with Christopher Nolan's revival of the Batman movies. At the moment,they're still trying to shake off the bad vibes from last summer's Jonah Hex,which opened and closed faster than a speeding bullet. A shoddy script and editing more sliced up than the hero's face contributed to making that movie a sure fire clunker(with the jinx of Megan Fox on top of that):
Let's face it,folks-DC has quite a track record when it comes to introducing lesser known characters in bad films and then dropping any interest in remaking their movie image.
One of their most notorious let downs was 2004's Catwoman,that made the crucial error of attempting to turn a major villain into a hero.
Granted,Catwoman can be rightly deemed an anti-hero but by completely changing her origin,right down to giving her a new name-Patience Phillips is not as sinister sounding as Selina Kyle-and forcing a trashy alter ego outfit on Halle Berry(who truly earned her Razzie award for worst actress that year) sealed the deal for failure here:
Digging further back into their cinematic closet of shame,we unearth Swamp Thing from the depths of 1982. You would think that having Wes Craven in the director's chair for this one was a smart idea. Unfortunately,this was one of those times when Craven was having an off moment in film and it turned to dross instead of gold.
With plenty of hammy overacting from Louis Jordan,Adrienne Barbeau getting not much more to do than kick a little butt before becoming the damsel in distress and some really sad special effects,Swamp Thing become an overcooked campy comic book mess. It was the kind of pulp fiction that oozed it's wonky story telling from every pore:
Two years after Swamp Thing slunk away,audiences had the dubious pleasure of meeting Supergirl in the form of Helen Slater, surrounded by the most unlikely cast of stars such as Peter O'Toole,Brenda Vaccaro and Faye Dunaway.
Faye's scenery stomping as the evil sorceress here gives her over the top antics in Mommie Dearest a real run for her money. It's actually one of the fun parts of this incredibly goofy flick,which is a personal bad movie favorite of mine.
What might have helped the movie somewhat would have been the presence of Superman but Christopher Reeve backed out of the cameo that he was scheduled to make in this film. Then again,it may have not made much of a difference,all things considered:
My final word on this matter to DC is this;please do better by your superheroes when they hit Hollywood. Superman and Batman have done well,for the most part,but it would be nice to see the likes of Wonder Woman,Green Arrow or even Aquaman getting a decent shot at becoming a great film.
As to Green Lantern-good luck there,pal because you're really going to need it with Thor and the X-Men on point at the multiplex these days:
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