Green Lantern

Everyone associated with movies in this world would have this in their bucket list for certain. It is not debatable and anyone who denies it is bound to be a liar. I mean its just too obvious right. Surely you guys know what I am talking about considering this is the review of the Green Lantern – Its being associated with a Super Hero movie in some way or the other. Look at it. Its just such an obvious money spinner. So why do you think acclaimed director Martin Campbell (2 Zorro movies, 2 Bond movies under his belt) and chocolate boy hero Ryan Reynolds or for that matter Gossip Girl (ooops – Blake Lively for the uneducated) be any different. I mean even Tim Robbins and Angela Basset want to be in one for crying out loud!!! And if all of these can crave to be in a super hero movie then why not Geoffrey Rush also.
What do you need to make one? Simple – a comic book superhero that not too many people have heard of. Something with a very reasonably interesting story line. With a little different angle on the source of the power of the super hero – now this is very important – some rock from a different planet or radioactive arachnoids are passé I say. Too predictable. Then there is the woman in the scheme of things who has to be gorgeous and exceptionally understanding (yeah right!!! No wonder they call it fiction) – someone who is strong as a rock face but yet vulnerable enough for the hero to help her out. And yes there has to be some conflict in the romance right. How else can it get romantically exciting as well right? A super hero movie would be incomplete without a villain with a bent of mind that is kind of similar to the hero – mind you this is extremely important – the villain has to be appear a bit humane in a super hero movie. He has to have been cheated of something very important in his life and has to have some hope of getting back to being a good guy – but alas he will die in the end because it has all happened too late. Alternatively, the villain can be a really bad ass guy with no hope for return which the audience would love to see pulped. Studies have however revealed that the more humane villain is more successful than the bad ass villain. Lastly there has to be a narrator – someone with a strong voice to carry audiences all the way through. Now how is that for a guaranteed formula for success – and of course, if reasonably made and finished with just that little bit open then there will be sequels for follow.

What will intrigue you about Green Lantern is the concept of using emerald energy in the form of will and fighting against yellow energy which comes in the form of fear. DC Comics will celebrate 75 years of the Green Lantern in 2015 and considering that 6 people have been Green Lanterns - Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner & the gorgeous daughter of Alan Scott – Jade, you can be rest assured that there would have been one more edition of the Green Lantern before that if not 2 more. This one deals with Hal Jordan. It has all the ingredients of a super hero movie that’s got most of the points right. It is an easy watch with reasonable 3D (Avoid PVR thanks to the huge glasses which could fracture your nose) and good special effects. You can take your kids along as well. 6 on 10 is what I say.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3445005593/

The Town

Located in the outskirts of the “Tea Party” city of Boston is a small hamlet called Charlestown. “The Town” is famous, or should I say infamous for producing the maximum number of criminals in the Boston area. The saying goes, “It’s a family business – passed on from father to son”. And in this small hamlet stay Doug McRay (Ben Affleck), James “Jem” Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), Albert 'Gloansy' Magloan (Slaine) and Desmond Elden (Owen Burke) – a gang of bank robbers masterminded by MacRay and controlled by Fergus 'Fergie' Colm (Pete Postlethwaite) a.k.a the Florist. Between the Florist and MacRay 4 robberies have been masterminded to date. Obviously the florist keeps a cut from the job. The FBI is of course onto their backsides but there is absolutely no proof of their involvement with anything. The gang is smart enough to not leave any fingerprints. They either torch anything that they have touched or spray the place with chemicals to not leave any DNA traces either. And also burn any tapes that may have recorded the entire activity. This obviously leaves FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) quite frustrated.


Frustrated till they pull off their next piece of work. They go about the heist dressed as Skeletors but almost get caught this time around. The Bank Manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) manages to sound a fire alarm. She also manages to see the tattoo of a cartoon character on Jem’s neck. The gang is about to leave but on 2nd thoughts decide to take Claire along with them as some sort of a hostage if the cops catch up with them on the way out. Nothing untoward happens though and a blindfolded Claire is dropped off @ the beach with a warning against talking to the cops or the FBI. For some reason the gang also keeps her license. A highly traumatized Claire is then interviewed by Agent Frawley. Still reeling under the stress of the robbery, she divulges very little. She specifically leaves out the part of the tattoo.

In the meantime, our anti-heroes are back @ their rendezvous point and realize that Claire stays barely 4 blocks away from Charlestown. Panic starts setting in and Jem is all set to dispose her off. But better sense prevails and McRay asks the gang to calm down and focus on the next job which he secretly wants to be his last. He takes the onus of following Claire to check on whether she finds her way back to the cops. He also befriends her in the bargain to try and figure out what she has been speaking to the cops about. Now there is no points for guessing that there is a soft corner that MacRay has a really soft spot for the Bank Manager ever since the robbery was in progress. For a seasoned Bank Robber it was quiet surprising that he lets himself fall for the victim. Not sure what they call this. But the reverse is the “Stockholm Syndrome”.

The Town is Ben Affleck’s 2nd directorial venture. His first being an equally intense drama starring his brother Casey Affleck. He continues with his style of movie making which is set against a dark easy going background and deals with a topic that is extremely socially relevant. Must give him credit in the direction department. Definitely not Oscar worthy as on date but definitely loads of potential in there. Lets put it this way, he is a much better director than an actor. He has definitely done his best to squeeze out as much possible from the not so famous cast. He also keeps the movie going with very little or no low points. There could have been some more effort made on consistency. For e.g. Blake Lively plays the role of Doug’s ex Krista Coughlin. For the kind of set up the Charlestown has, one would not expect Krista to have immaculately manicured and painted nails. Maybe I am wrong but instances like these stick out like a sore thumb in an otherwise well made & compact movie. In the acting department, I thought Jeremy Renner’s performance was quite noteworthy. The rest of the cast barely made it. And yes ladies – you can drool over Affleck’s 8 packs for all of 3.5 seconds during the movie. Overall, I give this a 6.5 on 10.