Hero Worship: Green Lantern's Fan Service

Much like the entirety of time has been divided into B.C. and A.D., so too have comic book films been distinguished as Before Dark Knight and After Dark Knight. There's a certain expectation from superhero movies to be more intelligent and structurally sound. Green Lantern is neither. However, that doesn't mean that it's not enjoyable.

Unless this is your first time on the Internet since the Green Lantern review embargo lifted, you've no doubt seen the general critical panning that it has received, IGN included. However, something interesting has happened since the movie opened wide at midnight on Friday. I put out a call on Twitter for the comic book legion to give me their thoughts on the movie. Almost exclusively, the response was positive. Even on Rotten Tomatoes, as I write this, the film is at 23% on the Tomatometer while at 72% in audience opinion. Having finally watched the movie earlier today, I'm going to have to side with the nerds on this one.

Does Green Lantern have faults? Yes, overwhelmingly so. In fact, from a storytelling standpoint, the parties involved should be ashamed of themselves. I could feel the suppressed pretension of my film school days rearing its ugly head as I watched multiple plot threads left to dangle like a tentacle of Parallax's octopus cloud. The movie is so choppy that even Ahab would avoid sailing through it. The post-credits teaser negates a key portion of the film's conclusion.

But for more on the fundamental problems of the movie, you can read IGN's Green Lantern review by our beloved Jim Vejvoda. And though I agree on all his points, there is something about Green Lantern that you won't see mentioned in a typical movie review. The giddy feeling in your fanboy loins that you get seeing Hal Jordan on the screen.


That's something that can't be quantified in a numerical score or a star rating. I've mentioned before my love of things like the Star Wars prequels, Lois & Clark, Superman IV and even Batman and Robin – things that a lot of fans generally hate. Yes, Superman IV is terrible. But is Christopher Reeve any less commanding in his role? While Green Lantern is far (like, galaxies away) from the failure of Superman IV or Batman and Robin, the point is that to a certain degree I can look past shortcomings to latch onto something I enjoy.

In the case of Green Lantern, I got to see live-action ring slingin', egg-headed Guardians of the Universe, seeds of the War of Light and a cameo from Bzzd (though, sadly, no Ch'p). As a student of film, Green Lantern was appalling. As a nerd, it was fan service.

It's easy to forget that we are lucky enough to live in an age where we can enjoy our favorite heroes on the big screen with increasing frequency. More importantly, we live in an age where we can enjoy heroes like Green Lantern on the screen. To some degree, we're spoiled. Less than 10 years ago, a Green Lantern flick would've been impossible. And not just in terms of special effects, but popularity. Just as it was once unthinkable that Green Lantern could've held down a mega comic book event, he's now able to star in his own summer movie. While the box office return remains to be seen, the fact that WB took this movie through to completion is commendable.