Continuity: The Dirty Word

Is continuity good or bad? Does it add or take away from the story? 

In the last couple of years, notable mainstream comic book companies and characters have been celebrating their 60th, 70th and even 75th anniversaries. A quarter century of stories, can lead to some confusing back stories so how are comic book companies dealing with this? Before you say "badly" and start telling me they should focus on "telling good stories instead", can I say that what is considered good is in the eye of the beholder. Personally I think comics are currently having a new creative golden age, and the output of most publishers has never been better. 

It's a big Multiverse out there.

There is an absolutely relentless onslaught of comic book movies, and TV shows that fans may wish to follow into their native medium. So how on Earth can publishers satisfy long term readers whilst still being accessible to new readers?

First a little history about what has already been tried.

Superhero book's golden age, were insanely popular on the newsstands in the 30's and 40's, yet a number of factors including the comic code and the belief that comics were for kids and couldn't feature anything unsuitable for kids led to comics as we know them, slowly vanishing for a couple of decades. What is considered the silver age of comics started with a new Flash in the late 50's. Rather than say what happened to the previous one who was last published in the late 40's, we simply started a fresh with a similar name and powers. It wasn't long before people questioned what happened to the original so DC introduced an Earth 2. All of the Golden age characters still happened but were in their own world. They later added an Earth 3 where DC bought up defunct smaller publishers characters and shoved them all together.

On their 50th anniversary DC decided to streamline their continuity from all of their various Earths into just one. Crisis On Infinite Earths, destroyed all but 5 of their worlds and put them into one long coherent history. One Flash now influenced the next. Legacy characters became the norm and a Marvel style sliding timescale explained the rest.

DC's Multiverse is even a thing on the Flash TV show.

Meanwhile at Marvel, they started using a sort of sliding timescale, retcon technique. Retcon meaning retractive continuity. Whereas characters that originally served in World War II could no longer feasibly be that age still they now served in more recent wars like Korea, Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan. Sometimes this was simply a namedrop or a flashback to re-tell or subtly hint at the change and sometimes this was a new mini series or graphic novel that did the job instead. Most recently the Season One graphic novels have been made to do a modern retelling of each characters history. 

This doesn't always work however as characters like Magneto that are heavily linked to the holocaust now have to be constantly de-aged in more and more nonsensical ways. 

DC's attempt worked well incorporating new characters to the universe, and did poorly at attempting to accommodate characters like the Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and Legion of Superheroes. There where some characters that logically just couldn't fit into a continuity together so they did another Crisis story called Zero year to straighten out the kinks. When that didn't work they introduced Hyper Time.

Hyper time is possibly the best way to tell stories in my opinion but beyond hard to explain to most people. Essentially everything counts. Alternate worlds have simply splintered off the main timeline and can come back into the fold at any point a writer desires. There was now a simple "a wizard did it" style response to any mistake. Essentially a "shut up and just read" response to nit pickers of continuity. Stories could just be told and incoherences explained away as still being valid. 

Marvel on the other hand tried to have their cake and eat it. They kept trying new universes alongside their continuing one with the sliding timescale. Notably New Universe a complete origin story for their characters done over again, MC2 a realtime answer to continuity where the children of the original characters took over their legacies. Most notably their Ultimate universe hit big time success and influenced their current movie slate quite heavily. Sadly after 10 ongoing years of the same stories, even in a new universe, they got bogged down in their own universes. Ultimates wound up doing complete shock moments in an attempt to get sales boosts, and got even more bogged down. The Ultimates ended with Marvel's Secret Wars story early this year. 

Secret Wars is a very mild reboot, in the style of DC's Crisis books, that destroyed all of Marvels multiple worlds and smushed a lot of characters deserving of being kept into the main continuity. Everything else was kept as is, but notable additions like Old Man Logan, Miles Morales and Weird World made their way over. There were no major continuity issues from this so far. 

Your world is equal parts immersive/ inaccessible if you require a map. 

DC had yet another Crisis after so long of playing around with the concept of Hyper Time, after deciding that most people simply didn't get it. Infinite Crisis brought back the idea of multiple Earths but limited it to 52 of them. Barely years later they then scrapped that again! The New 52 the fallout from Flashpoint, a Flash story at heart, with a nod to the character that started this whole problem in the first place. The New 52, I've discussed before. It was a lot of number 1 issues in one month and was a really pricey way to have people try to buy everything to try new things. It was essentially stealing the small audience comics have off other publishers and getting a few lapsed readers back in with a jumping on point. 

The trouble with the New 52 was it kept continuity for characters like Batman and Green Lantern that were doing well, but completely reset characters like Superman and Wonder Woman that were doing bad sales wise. They then forced all of this new and old history into just 5 years. Batman now had 5 robins in as many years. He also had a 12 year old son he'd conceived during his 5 year run as Batman. In the Batman book Tim Drake was a Robin and in the Teen Titans book he never was a Robin. There were continuity issues that distracted from the stories been told. No amount of sweeping it under the rug would hide that.

DC then tried the ignoring continuity altogether and hoping it didn't detract from stories with the DCYou branding. Launching an extra Justice League book that wouldn't tie in with events and could just tell a story. Sales took no boost whatsoever and now we are quickly approaching DC's Rebirth event/ branding. DC has rebirth-ed characters like Flash individually. It's a reinvention of the character and from the sounds of their announcements so far they will be trying the reinvention to their whole line. Hopefully this New 52 style light reboot, will consider the universe as a whole from the get go and have less continuity issues.

Same goes for your Universe! Grant Morrisons Multiversity despite needing a map, was surprisingly light and fun!

Movies try to reboot all the time. The amount of modern remakes, of horror films must show that theres minor short-lived success to it, but that it doesn't work log term. Star Trek's most recent films have bent over backwards in a hat tip to alternate universes featured in the original TV show. So it's simultaneously a new and old continuity. While fans of the show would get this kind of hard sic-fi would the regular cinema goer let it fly? Bond soft rebooted with Daniel Craig in Casino Royal. M was portrayed by the same actress but Bond was on his first assignment. Huh? Is James Bond a title that is taken with the 007 moniker? Should we just shut up and accept this stuff? Doctor Who's Ecclestone reboot, took away the complicated, convoluted history of the Time Lords, which led to the cancellation originally, and simply had him as the last of his kind. It took almost a decade before the in-between story was filled in. It was for the best. You eased viewers back into the sic-fi nonsense before edging the harder concepts back in.

For me the best solution is the sliding timescale. Bring things forward as and when needed. Don't selectively delete what you don't like, selectively fix what needs fixing. Don't reboot and fix everything when not all of it is broken. So long as what is done doesn't distract from the story that's fine. 

The occasional up to date mini-series or graphic novel retelling a now out dated origin story is a small price to pay to mature these comics. Splintering into new universes is a short term solution.

Time will never pass for these characters that we love. Batman will sometimes be in his 20's sometimes his 40's. Depends on the writer or the story being told. Long running characters like Ironman, Spiderman and Superman can't be replaced. If someone else takes up Captain America's shield or Thor's hammer or wears Batman's Cowl, the audience gets really upset and confuses "stories" with "gimmicks" and wants things returned to the normal status quo ASAP. Comics are cyclical, the writer will always put the toys back in the box when they are done for the next creator to play with. 

Maybe if the needless hate stopped these worlds could progress? Some fans would seemingly, only be happy, if they got Amazing Fantasy #15, reprinted for 10 cents a pop, on original newsprint of course, on a monthly basis. People complain when Peter Parker gets married, people complain when that goes away, people hate that he runs a company. Sadly the character is a human and humans grow up and change. That's what stories do. Character progression. They go from A to B and change. Don't confuse stories and gimmicks.

Dan Slott's Spider-verse equally had fun playing in a larger sandbox of characters and worlds.

Grant Morrison decided everything that ever happened to Batman, silver age and all, was in continuity, and his Batman run, from Batman and Son through till Batman Incorporated, was better for it. On the other hand Tony Stark and the Punisher are practically babies having fought in the Iraq war. The Fantastic Four had their cosmic waves mishap in this millennium. The X-men recently brought back their original teen selves back from 60's issues. They can't be more than 20 years older than their teen selves yet their teen selves had never seen cell phones etc. Those 60's X-men in their 60's fashions where now technically from the 90's.

Final Thoughts

Don't worry about it, would be a general consensus. Don't let continuity define your stories, let your stories define your continuity. Slide characters into modern day when you need to. Don't delete them and their past, reinvent them. Try new branding and the odd #1 when it's necessary, just don't over do it. Don't reset everything when the majority still works. It's the huge immersive worlds with rich history that I find so compelling and that keeps me coming back. 

Above all else, don't humour the fanboy in the comments section, that has quit comics for the 18th time this year, that hates everything about the thing he's a fan of. Hate isn't good for the community. Hate is toxic, and stumps creativity, and community growth. If you were a new reader that wanted help to pick up a new title, and someone said "ugh don't read that it's rubbish and hacky", you'd wonder how much of this world is deemed bad, and be more likely to avoid it. Best way to discover what your personal taste is, is to try it. Sample everything. I got into comics with issues in the 300-500 range. Yes it's daunting. Just pick it up though. The industry bends over backwards for new readers nowadays, with the constant barrage of issue 1's. That's not a bad thing. Long term readers should view them as new story arcs for characters they've known for 75 years. New readers get the start of a new story too. 

Captain America: The First Avenger: The Big Marvel Re-Watch

I'm attempting a great big Marvel movie re-watch ahead of the release of Captain America Civil War on 29th April. A summary and brief review of each of the 12 instalments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be posted each Thursday and Tuesday.

The 5th film in the franchise.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Plot Summary

The 1940's. A young and weak Steve Rogers fails to enlist in the army for a fourth time while his friend Bucky Barnes is to ship out in a few days time. He goes and tries to enlist once more and is caught with falsified info on his report. Instead of being punished he is given a chance in a special program to help his country, the Super Soldier project. The project which is headed by Dr Erskine a German scientist, who has escaped Johann Schmidt's HYDRA division of Nazi Germany, after being forced to give his Super Soldier serum to Schmidt, is hoping to find someone true and virtuous to enhance their traits and give them strength, after seeing how he accidentally turned Schmidt into the evil Red Skull. Despite his size and weaknesses, Rogers is everything they are looking for.

I like how the roles are reversed from the comics. Bucky is the bigger kid, and not a child sidekick.

During this time Schmidt and his lacky Zola have found a cosmic cube, a weapon of much power that has links to Thor's mythology. They are using it to power new weapons for HYDRA. 

Shortly after Steve is given the serum and successfully becomes super strong, HYDRA attacks the facility and kills Erskine, along with any hopes of replicating the procedure. Steve and Peggy Carter, a government employee involved in his creation and selection, stop the HYDRA agent only for him to commit suicide. Without the rest of a Super Soldier army, Steve Rogers isn't put into battle, instead he becomes a propaganda piece. He travels the country as part of a singing stage show, selling war bonds and stars in his own comics and movies as Captain America. He goes with some of the dancers to perform for troops out on the front lines, and his reception there is less warm.

Rogers learns that a large group of the battalion that Bucky was a part of has been captured and morale is lower than ever. With the help of a blossoming romance with Peggy and Howard Stark's pilot skills (Tony's father) he is dropped behind enemy lines and against all odds releases all of the prisoners, including Bucky, confronts Red Skull and Zola, and escapes with samples of the new HYDRA cosmic cube powered weaponry as well as maps to their hidden bases.

The start of the Howling Commandoes. Which we totally needed more of!

This turns the tide of the war. Captain America and his Howling Commandoes take out base after base. The last base to be destroyed leads to Bucky apparently falling to his death, and Cap and Red Skull going down with the cosmic cube somewhere in the arctic. 

Cut to modern day and SHIELD the intelligence organisation set up by Peggy, Howard and more US soldiers has found the ship and Cap's iconic shield in the ice. He's thawed out and has to come to turns with the fact that the war is now long gone.

Agent Carter. A brilliant character that eventually get's her own early SHIELD TV show spin off.

Review

Despite my low expectations and minimal knowledge of Thor, the last release in the franchise, it failed to hook me, I didn't find the characters likeable and it felt really lack lustre- a small romp in the desert for a God. I had literally zero expectations for this film. Despite being a huge fan of everything American (and I'm a Brit by the way), I always thought Cap was a bit too much of a "'Murica! Yeah! Freedom!" stereotype. I was excited for more big screen Marvel but I was scared of what that might be. I've only ever seen big, manly, scary Cap barking orders for other Avengers. He seemed to iconic and bold to work as a character. The writers deserve so many awards for this. Not only do you relate to and like this noble weakling you are presented but he only manages to grow more and more as time goes on. It doesn't feel forced when he naturally gets people to follow him or rallies everybody's morale. This is possibly the best casting so far and the most enjoyable film so far.

The song from when Cap is in the propaganda dance troop and movie is possibly the most catchy thing I've ever heard. I was scared that this stuff would be in the Marvel war film, this undeserved patriotism, but somehow not only did it work for a none American it serves it's purpose so well. 

Another one note- one film villain. I wonder if Marvel
will ever revisit or bring any of these guys back?

The villains carry a bit more gravitas, and they make it so that HYDRA is the villain rather than Nazi Germany which is very noble of them. They also make it clear very early on that the first country the Nazi's invaded was their own. It's nice to see that an entire country isn't villainised needlessly. Red Skull looks ridiculous but serves his purpose, and the stakes are higher than Thor's desert street getting flattened. This time there is a huge cosmic cube powered bomb about to drop on the eastern seaboard of USA. The connection between Cap and Peggy feels more real, and you shed tears when he says they'll have to rain check that dance they were going to have, and Cap crashes the plain into the water. When you compare that to Thor breaking his way back to Earth and not seeing Jane again, for me, there's no comparison over who has the most real feeling relationship chemistry.

For me this is the best Superhero film since 2008's one two punch of Iron Man and Dark Knight. The reason it works so well is that this is a likeable protagonist from the start, and this alternate history, world building gives a real sense of wonder and authenticity. It's drastically different from all that has come before it. A period piece for and introduction followed with the natural fish out of water story to follow. It's almost a shame that Cap can't have any more stories in the war time setting. 

The wartime propaganda suit becomes half useful.

The film does so well with it's first and second acts, developing the characters and all the feels, that it really has to rush the final act. This would be the films only down side for me. He get's the Howling Commandoes and then you only see them in action in a montage and one final mission. The ending had impact and ramifications for the next film in the franchise but it could have done with more time with it's new army characters. When the film finally comes up to speed with the modern day story again, you realise just how immersed you were in it's setting and modern day Times Square is just as visually jarring for the viewer as it is Steve Rogers.

I'll admit that after the Thor opening with the "and now let's see how we got here" moment and the jumping around with the story is was worried it would be more of the same but it really worked as a framing device. Sorry for the large amount of Thor comparisons, but it feels only right to compare the first on screen outings of two of Marvels unknown characters that are rather major in the comics.

End Credits Scene

No real end credits scene this time. A short clip of Nick Fury asking Rogers if he's ready for a mission but it's all part of a trailer for the Avengers film. 

Captain America: The First Avenger Rating: 8/10

One of my favourites so far. So upbeat and enjoyable with just the right amount of corniness. I've scored this higher than Iron Man, as I feel this film has more likeable and enjoyable characters and a bigger scale of a story. 

Shelfies! A Look at My Collection

I've done a brief article about what I'm reading HERE. Where I wrote about my pull list and what my tastes are. So I figured, why not follow that up with a tour of my collection and Studio space. I've been meaning to do this for a while and someone requested it and reminded me!

First my studio space, I do freelance art work and also self publish comics myself. This is where the magic happens. You can check out my work by clicking that big colourful banner at the top of the page or clicking HERE. If you want to buy any of my comics or prints I have a store HERE. Those Ikea shelves are a godsend and are so cheap it's unreal. 10/10 would recommend.

There are prints on the wall of Marvel Comics #1, a Saga cover by Fiona Staples, the original art of a Chloe Noonan Monster Hunter cover by Marc Ellerby (an Indie artist that I love!), Declan Shalvey's Daredevil print, and another Marc Ellerby comics page. 

The desk that I work at, and my view into my tiny back garden. There are tonnes of postcards and mini prints around the window. Some are my own and lots are for inspiration.

Again lots of prints on the wall, and the cupboard there is chock full of more shelving for comics.

I've been a buyer of the Marvel Collector Corps boxes since the start. I've got an article about it HERE. There's a tonne of old Star Wars extended Universe books on those shelves. Which reminds me: I must write an article about the pros and cons of Extended Universes! There are two build a bears that belong to my girlfriend, dressed as Cap and Thor.

More prints on this wall, Not all of them very visible. There's the Chip Zdarsky Wic Div variant cover signed by Gillen and McKelvie. A Spider Gwen print, a Paul Duffiel print, Ray Gun Roads print by Tunney and an Adventure time print. 

There's also a hamster called Loki!

On to the collectibles. Marty and Doc Vinyl Idols, Greg Capullo Commissioner Gordon. I totally need more of those. I've been eyeing up the Riddler and Zero Year Batman not to mention the upcoming Batgirl of Burnside figure.

There is my set of Inside Out Pixar figures, that I got in Disneyland Paris and the Umbrella Academy set.

I have an Arrow book end that I keep a lot of my favourite indie titles in.

Most of my Funko Pops are in this room. There's also the Star Wars droid factory toy I built at Disneyland.

More Pops. Most are from the Collector Corps box but a lot of them have been gifts or impulse buys. That rolled up print behind them is the gorgeous Back to the Future print by Mondo that I've yet to find room for!

A few Marvel Legends. I've still got a huge box of loose Marvel Legends at my parents house that could do with coming to my own house now! There's a couple of Dorbz there too.

The Star Wars Die Cast Black Series toys are stunning sculpts and I really just wanted a tiny Rey and BB8 then went a bit crazy.

There's a bunch of Marvel bear I got when my local comic shop was having a sale a while back.

This is my Image comics shelving. On my last sort out I was surprised by how many Image books I now own. Also A little Luigi and Finn ad Jake from Adventure Time.

The central shelf is the first half of my X-men collection. It was my first love and I will always love it no matter how over the top and crazy it gets.

The last shelf is more X-men and mutant solo books.

Now into the huge cupboard space behind those posters... This lot is all of the rest of my Marvel books.

And on the left of those are all of my DC books. Also theres that HUGE Madman book which just doesn't fit anywhere.

There's far too many comics, and I'm well overdue for a clear out. 

Downstairs now, and a few DVD's first. Indies mostly.

DC mostly and....

Marvel and it's titles at other studios.

90's X-men (which got me into comics). Baymax, baby groot and Spider-man pop 

More 90's x-men and awesome cartoons. Rick and Morty is SO GOOD! Clone Wars is a really good cartoon and not at all for kids. Doctor Who Pop!

All the Supernatural series. I'm a late convert, thanks to my GF. I got her the Pops for Christmas and Valentines Day.

This obviously isn't all of my collection, It's just the bulk of it. I'm obsessed with USA and have a NYC themed living room, and a dozen complete sitcoms on DVD too.

Some more nerdy shelving. I totally forgot to put in the bulk of my art books from our second bedroom too but there's a few in here with Supergods, Untold History of Marvel and Image Studio space.

Some more Star Wars art books and Comics. I'm trying to gather al the Dark Horse Omnibuses that I can before they're gone for good.

I hope you've enjoyed this look around my collection and frankly awful hoarding habits. Everywhere I look there's more nerdyness and I'm so glad my GF accepts and embraces the bulk of it. Thanks for reading!

What's in your collection?

Deadpool (But Mostly Green Lantern) Movie Review

Just for fun. So I saw Deapool and had to eat my own words. I posted a BIG RANT about why Deadpool should be humour first, and R rated sex and violence second. Turns out I have literally not got a bad word to say about it. 

The sex and violence aren't the driving force of the film, Deadpool is. They don't distract from the character at all, they simply sell the depressing world he hails from, and really well might I add. The plot is almost none existent, but it doesn't need one, because all you want to see is Deadpool motor mouthing one liners, and making you laugh. The story telling is unfortunately an origin story, yet Wade Wilson has the same humour before and after becoming Deadpool so it's forgiven. The story jumps back and forth between origin and modern day so you get evenly distributed Deadpool shenanigans. Everything they've done, they've done for a reason. Plus just think of the sequel, no origin, just pure Deadpool insanity. Here's hoping for more X-men to come along, especially Cable.

It just works. I'm not sure why they chose the R rated direction still, and I'm positive that James Gunn has guessed right that Hollywood execs will misunderstand why Deadpool is a success. Instead of thinking it's down to a true and enjoyable representation, they will almost definitely just start churning out R rated films that don't need to be R rated because they think thats why people liked it.

I'm off to see Deadpool again tonight. With my Girlfriend again (who also loved it the first time) and her Dad, who will be seeing it for the first time. The first time we saw it, I was sat next to two middle aged, prudish looking women and what I assume where their children. They were about 10-12 years old and where entirely too young for the films content. To my surprise though the two middle aged women were laughing harder and louder than me, with only the occasional tutting at the cruder moments. I guess this film really was comedy first.

I firmly believe that foremost, comics should be fun. Sure there are really heady, serious books. They are objectively good. That's not my favourite thing about comics. It's the bonkers plots and the limitless budget and the huge concepts and worlds they are selling that do it for me.

Deadpool is awesome: Go see it! 

Deadpool is great and Lantern is awful, and rightfully poked fun at in Deadpool!

So basically I got all amped up for a big hate filled rant and couldn't. So a few nights after seeing Deadpool, I hate-fucked my eyeballs and brain by watching DC's Green Lantern movie. So here's your hate filled review of a Ryan Reynolds film:

Green Lantern Review

The film starts with the most over the top concepts of the Lantern corps told one after the other. A crash course in it's history that when uttered aloud and in one go, sounds absolutely laughable when put so bluntly. You are introduced to aliens you don't know and don't care for, and are expected to care when they die seconds after their introduction. 

The CGI suits on every character are beyond a joke. If you want to make an alien world seem believable and real, you could at least make them look real. I know I aren't fond of Man of Steel or it's depiction of Krypton but at least they were wearing armour/ clothes and not some ping pong ball covered motion capture suits. It's a little thing that could have sold that otherworldliness. 

The Daddy troubles flash back that makes Reynolds character supposedly relatable is almost laughable. You'd expect it in a parody film like Hot Shots not in a film that's trying to make me feel for and root for it's lead character.

What a character he is though! Not in a good way. We get introduced to him as he leaves a one night stand in his bed and rushes off late to work to fly with someone else he's slept with. He comes off as a sleazy James Bond. The only people who would want to be him are college frat boys. He's a sexist and unlikeable portrayal. 

There are some bizarre continuity moments too. You can let small moments and continuity errors go but when he gets flown by a ball of green light to the aliens crash site it goes from day to night instantly. How long was he flying for? He was going pretty fast as it was. Is this purely for effect and mood lighting and we are expected not to notice like in X-men 3 The Last Stand? Also an objectively bad movie by the way. When he gets there his first thought when he meets a fucking alien is to wise crack. Not in a cool I do this to distract myself from danger and distance myself from people, like Tony Stark in Iron Man. He just comes off as a giant tosspot. He then gets his friend out there so they can make more jokes together before the government turns up just in time for a little car chase. Perfect timing right? He's been sat there for hours and even dug a sodding grave with his bare hands.

Speaking of the government, Amanda Waller, notoriously s larger woman of colour in the comics is now a slim woman of colour. Was it too controversial for her to be both? She's meeting Hector Hammond, a relatable chess nerd, who has genuine everyday father issues, not over the top theatrical well timed flash back explosion ones like Reynolds. Despite most of it's target audience being more like Hammond he is villainised by the movie and the rest of it's characters simply because the script demanded it. An unlikeable lead and a likeable villain. Somethings off here?! Hector has a genuine human reaction to seeing an alien and becomes infected, evil and his ugliness is over emphasised and he becomes even more of a nerd parody. Hammond even comes off quite humble and gracious when declining his fathers offer even after becoming a freak show of a villain.

The Green Lantern oath sounds dumb onscreen and could have been altered to be made more accepting to an audience getting introduced to this relatively unknown character. Combine this with the info dump at the beginning and you've practical got your audience mentally shut down. 

A good thing about the film is Hal and Carol have good chemistry on screen and you'd hope he would too seen as the pair dated in real life around this time too. The wise cracking winds down a notch and the too seem to connect believably. Even if their entire connection was started off again by Hal's friend literally spelling out, isn't the hero supposed to get the girl? This film is so on the nose at times, I was worried I would bruise there.

An enjoyable, believable coupling, if for the wrong reasons.

Another great scene is when Carol recognises Hal with his mask on. Dialogue along the lines of, you think because I can't see your cheekbones, I wouldn't recognise you?! I've seen you naked! Which I genuinely laughed at. It's almost a foreshadowing of Deadpool's breaking of the fourth wall being hilarious. 

I would gladly watch an all Oa Lantern movie. No Earth necessary!

The scenes on Oa are surprisingly enjoyable. I would have rather have seen this story from their perspective and have had Hal as an afterthought. The CGI costumes work on the entirely CGI aliens yet the more humanoid ones could have done with being actual people rather than the bizarre comic book physiology to their abs and muscles. 

Sinistro seems to be a dick simply because he has a British accent and has no believable plot driving thoughts other than I'm doing it because the script demanded it. He's a villain because he's well spoken. He's villainised the same way Hector is, because he's a neEeEeErd! There is some truly awful dialogue with Killowog as an awful drill sergeant parody. I'd still rather stay in this brightly coloured, vibrant, fun planet than go back to Earth, simply because Hal has to quit and then grow as a person by becoming human. There's an entire planet of different alien species that's got more human emotion than he does.

Fun Fact: did you know all posh sounding people are evil?

We are treated to Parralax, a giant space octopus chasing toward Earth and we are supposed to care about a villain that is set up for characters, that aren't even our main characters or a driving force of the plot. Simply because the script says we should.

Hal chooses not to give up. Not because he's grown as a person, more because he wants to get with Carol again. He flies all the way to Oa to ask them if he can protect Earth. Instead of just protecting Earth because fuck logic, he needs to rub in how good he is to the other Lanterns and get praise.

He beats the bad guy by simply throwing him into the sun. A surprisingly accurate and good ending in my opinion. Imagine if Superman in Man of Steel had simply picked Zod up and flown him into space rather than through building after building racking up property damage until he snapped his neck like a fucking murderer. Throwing the bad guy into the sun is a pretty class move for a comics character.

We get an end credit scene where Sinestro simply puts on the evil yellow ring because, sequel. He's made a turn around and stopped being a dick throughout the film then outright just does the opposite in the credits. 

Bizarre choice of CGI muscle/ ab suits plastered over whatever they were actually wearing.

Final Thoughts

What did I like? The odd joke that didn't sound jock-y or fall flat. The light hearted, enjoyable nature of it all. The bright amazing universe of creatures on Oa. The almost believable romance. The enjoyment factor.

What didn't I like? The nice bad guy and the jerk good guy. The throw you in at the deep end, monologuing about the Lanterns origin the second the film starts rolling. This is the most average action movie I've ever witnessed.

Honestly, it's space police with power rings, how fucking hard is it to do that?! Most movies would kill for a premise like that! How did it wind up this unlikeable? 

Why did I just re-watch it? 

Once upon a time this was going to be the start of a DC Justice League shared universe, and I'm kind of ashamed to say, I'd rather see this jerk of a character bounce of brightly coloured action hero versions of the League rather than the monochrome toned down, over the top action of Man of Steel and Batman Vs. Superman. Simply because I imagine they'd be fun, varied and witty. Rather than everyone competing for grunting, grey scale, baddass-ery and basically being the same character in different shells. 

For me DC has a history of great characters being given bad portrayals in amazing worlds, and settings. Superman Returns was slow, and dull but had the brilliant art deco stylised world to live in. As a result to it being to boring we get Man of Steel that's all action at the loss of the character again. Dark Knight while being a solid and enjoyable movie, where every second counted script wise, wasn't about a worlds greatest detective. Other than the bullet getting pieced back together he mostly just barked "where is she/he" at people to figure things out. That's strange detective work. The Dark Knight did so well that Hollywood misunderstood it's success as to being dark and gritty, not because it was tightly scripted in a coherent world. We wound up with just as dark Superman in Man of Steel and I'm still wondering how the good cop/ bad cop, noir/ boy scout dynamic will work when both characters are equal.

Like Deadpool's irreverence, Batman's darkness is not a primer that can simply be slapped onto any character in a super suit. It seems to be that the studios think the characters need to either be like Batman or that they should simply just stay in the Batman reboot business for good. It won't be long until we get flooded with R rated Super heroes or, comedy superheroes the same way that Warner Bros and Snyder believe that everything has to be similarly dark. 

While each DC attempt at a movie universe always falls flat to me I see why each time they come back completely different in feel and genre. They aren't afraid to try different things. It's a good thing. Marvel seems stuck in their ways. They've found what works for them and vary it mildly in genre between films, but at their heart I can see why, if it wasn't your thing, that you would easily tire of it. I don't understand why people feel like Marvel is dumbed down because of it's coherent world building, and will simply put that down to jealousness, of a 12 soon to be 14 strong movie universe to a 1 soon to be 3 movie universe. I am glad that Justice League Part 1 has finally been green lit to start shooting, as it's been a long way coming no matter how it finally turns out on screen, I'll just be glad to go buy a ticket.

A better origin than this garbage!

Recommendations

If you want a really good and quite compelling character and story about Green Lantern please go watch Green Lantern First Flight animated movie. There's a reason why Marvel is currently owning the cinema, while DC is knocking it out of the park with it's TV and Animated divisions. It's that good.