Most Disappointing Comic Book Movie - Green Lantern
Some two and a half months have passed since this superhero title hit theaters, and fans are still a bit tetchy, to say the least. While the majority of professional critics agree the movie was a mediocre attempt to realize the Green Lantern universe in live-action form, there remains a vocal minority of the fan community who feel that director Martin Campbell’s comic book flick is undeserving of all the flak it’s had to endure.
One thing we can (hopefully) all agree on is that Green Lantern certainly could’ve been better. Case in point: how many people who had never read a Lantern comic book prior to seeing the film honestly walked away afterwards with a solid understanding of how the Green Lantern Corps works? Or didn’t think there were there, at times, some gaping holes in the plot? Or didn’t feel that Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan kind of came off as DC’s answer to Marvel’s Iron Man - but not in a good way?
Perhaps this “I’m a Marvel… and I’m a DC” skit put it best: We all love the Hal Jordan character – now we just want to see him appear in a good movie.
Best Comic Book Movie – Captain America: The First Avenger
This summer, it turned out the best superhero comic book movie was being saved for last.
Thor and X-Men: First Class were both solid, but it was the second Marvel in-house production, Captain America: The First Avenger, that was arguably the overall best pure superhero movie of the season. It was appropriately old-fashioned in design, didn’t have to devote too much effort to setting up The Avengers – heck, it even came up with a clever explanation for why its main character runs around with a bullseye on his shield!
Captain America didn’t boast the enthralling action set pieces that some of its comic book movie peers have offered, but it was a fun blockbuster that featured some great characters, pleased comic book enthusiasts with its similarities to the source material – and, most importantly, made people all the more excited to see Steve Rogers return in both The Avengers and future Captain America solo ventures.
