Supergirl Series Premiere thoughts

  
When a Supergirl TV show was first announced, I was apprehensive. The last time Supergirl was launched out of the comics on her own, it was for 1984’s Supergirl, which starred Helen Slater, and promptly flopped at the box office. 

Initial photos of Melissa Benoist in costume didn’t inspire me, either. At first glance, the design looks lazy. It literally looks like someone cut the logo out of fabric from Michael’s and adhered it with a special craft kit. And her hair still seemed more strawberry blonde than anything. I was stuck on Kara having been blonde for the entirety of her existence.
In spite of all of this, I was quite taken by the extended preview released several months ago. The cast seemed to gel, and the spirit of the show seemed upbeat! *GASP* I’m pleased to tell you that the show is very much in this spirit of fun and whimsy, in spite of the drama in Kara’s life.

The show starts on Krypton. Jor-El and Lara are launching baby Kal-El to Earth, and in a nearby dwelling, Zor-El and Allura are sending their daughter, Kara, who looks to be around 12, to be Kal-El’s protector on Earth. (If you don’t know already, they’re cousins.) Kara’s rocket is pulled into a wormhole, and is stuck there for 24 years. When the ship breaks free, it makes its way to Earth. Kal-El, now Superman, finds his now-younger cousin and matches her with a family to care for her.

Cut to National City. Kara, now a young adult, is an errand girl for media mogul Cat Grant. Kara becomes smitten with new guy James Olsen, Pulitzer winning Metropolis photographer who now works for Grant. Her sister Alex works in National City as well. When Kara strikes out on a blind date and Alex’s plane starts to go down, Kara takes action, revealing herself to the world.

The origin story is executed in a way that explains what it needs to, but doesn’t get bogged down, as some stories do. The entire first episode is imminently watchable, and leaves the viewer interested in what happens next. 

What we really have here is several things: a solid superhero show, a show with a more diverse cast than most superhero shows, and a family-friendly show that hopefully encourages girls to dream bigger.

Supergirl airs on Monday nights at 8/7 central.

Fun, cheesy, cool, and inspiring: “Green Lantern” (2011) review

It has happened. I have seen “Green Lantern.” I have a lot to say about it, so bear with me…

The trend among critics seems to be to paint this as the worst film in a long time, and possibly one of the worst ever. I don’t see this at all. The same critics who are bestowing poor ratings on this movie often say that it’s a better movie than “Thor,” which they gave a mediocre to fair rating. What gives?

I suspect that I know exactly what gives. For young hipster critics, hating GL is a really cool thing to do. This has been the case for Internet fanboys ever since the first trailer hit last fall. For the 45 and over crowd, there is a pervasive curmudgeonliness in their reviews – all of them, not just this film – that seems to prevent them from enjoying any superhero movie that wasn’t directed by Christopher Nolan or that doesn’t present a highly topical issue interwoven with the hero’s plot/life/mission/etc. I feel fortunate to be at a place in my perspective as a watcher of movies to have enjoyed this movie for what it was.

This is another origin story. I understand that origin stories get tiresome. Understand, though, that Green Lantern is a rich mythology that NEEDS a serious amount of exposition before it can possibly get into any kind of story. “Green Lantern” gets right to it, giving a VERY brief history of the Green Lantern Corps before introducing the main villain: Parallax, an entity who embodies the emotion fear, represented by yellow energy. In the comics, it is known that green lantern rings’ green energy (will) is vulnerable to yellow. Parallax wounds his captor, Green Lantern Abin Sur, and escapes. Abin, knowing that he is mortally wounded, instructs his ship to head to the nearest inhabited planet to begin the “selection process.”

Meanwhile, test pilot Hal Jordan is introduced, and we quickly find that he is an irresponsible womanizer who makes rash and reckless decisions. His father was also a pilot, and Hal lives in his shadow.

Hal is, of course, selected as Abin Sur’s replacement. After experimenting a little with the ring and accompanying lantern he inherits, Hal is suddenly whisked off by his ring to Oa, home of the Green Lsntern Corps, as well as the Guardians, their mentors. Hal is welcomed by Tomar-Re, a fish-bird combination looking GL. He is very briefly trained by the enormous, gruff GL Kilowog, as well as the pink skinned Sinestro. The latter makes Hal decide that he may not be Lantern material after all. But what of Parallax and his apparent connection to Earth???

The main reason I loved this movie is that I felt like a 12 year old as I was watching it. The effects, a popular topic of derision, looked great to me, as did Reynolds’ costume. Reynolds himself took the part seriously, and to me was an ideal Hal. Mark Strong is perfect as Sinestro, as are Geoffrey Rush as Tomar-Re and Michael Clarke Duncan as Kilowog. Even Blake Lively was suited to the role of Carol Ferris. Say what you will, but she’s far better than Katie Holmes in “Batman Begins.”

My favorite aspect of the movie was the constructs themselves. As Hal got more comfortable, the constructs became more inventive and cooler. I loved the CG, the look of Oa, and the glowing green energy permeating the uniforms. My only technical problem is the Guardians themselves. The animation of their faces is too cartoony. I feel like they should have seemed somewhat more real, a la Gollum.

The only other complaint I have is that much of this movie feels rushed. If possible, I would love to see an extended cut of the DVD released so that the pace relaxes a wee bit more. Not much, though, as the forward momentum helps to keep the excitement going.

In all, I love this movie. It’s terribly flawed, but it speaks directly to my inner adolescent. It has humor, action, and excitement. A note about the mid-credits scene: I felt that it WAS set up in an earlier scene and didn’t come out of nowhere.

Bottom line: if you want straight up entertainment, this is your movie. “Green Lantern” is no “The Dark Knight,” but it shouldn’t be. It’s a space opera that can be an exhilarating ride, but only if you are capable of relaxing enough to just go with it.

Bane revealed!

Today, Warner Bros. Pictures published the first official photo from Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises.” Below, you’ll see Tom Hardy as Bane, Batman’s most physically challenging enemy. As I expected, the Lucha Libre look is gone. In its place is a more practical mask, and by the looks of it, it feeds Bane’s trademark venom into his mouth or his sinus cavities. The super-cynical Fanboy crowd are already drawing comparisons to TMNT baddie shredder, but I promise you that Bane will be a more than worthy foe. I’m officially excited!

Why I geek – Movie edition

It was June 23, 1989. My friend David had arranged for his mom to take a station wagon full of kids to the movies. This alone was exciting enough to 13-year-old me, as our town had no movie theater, and we had to drive 30 minutes to the nearest one. The trips to the movie theater were few and far between, but they were highly memorable. But this one…THIS one…wow. Someone was smart enough to take my favorite superhero and adapt him to film using the darker stories of the 1980s as a guide. That someone was Tim Burton. The hero was BATMAN.

I believe there were five of us – David, myself, Aaron, Dan, and Clint – plus David’s younger sister and mom, all piled in. I was in the back, being the kid in our group who was picked on the most, and also the most passive. That was okay, because David had bought the official souvenir magazine of the movie, and it was in the back with me. I found brilliance in the use for an armor suit for Batman. I mean, how else was Michael Keaton going to be convincing in the role? I remember geeking hard over the Batmobile. Batman’s car was always cool, but never like this… and the Joker!!! It seemed like brilliant casting, right up until that Ledger guy came along…

We made a stop at the mall. It was like Batman blew up in the middle of the thing!!! T shirts, posters, toys, books…THIS was the beginning of movie merchandising as we know it today. I walked out with a t shirt for me, as well as one for my sister. I think I also grabbed the movie soundtrack…

Then it HAPPENED. I was sucked in from the first frame I saw. Gotham City was so bleak, and it had this gothic edge that was fascinating and creepy all at once. Bruce Wayne was a deeply disturbed man who in many ways never grew up. Alfred was the stalwart father figure. The Joker was a true maniac. Any memory I had of the Adam West TV show was temporarily wiped away! (The less said about Commissioner Gordon, the better!) The action was unique and exciting! The story built to a pounding climax! And Danny Elfman’s score has never completely left my ears since that day…

This started it. Every summer since then, I look forward to seeing if a movie will catch my imagination. This summer looks very promising, what with Thor being a very cool movie, and with several others looking to have potential. If you go to these movies, look for me. I’ll be the guy in the nerdy shirt.