I've witnessed time and again geeks blowing up about the lack of dedication held by various comic films to their source material. Never mind that these folks fail to realize that there's a great difference between source material and adaptation. The adaptation must stand on it's own. Apparently this is a difficult concept for geeks to grasp.
Tonight I saw the film adaptation of Green Lantern. If anything this film stayed true to the comics, taking little turns here and there for sake of story and the film's own identity. I thought, after sitting through it and the credits (where a neat, inevitable event occurs), that it was overall a fun comic book movie. I'm not going to compare it to other comic book films. I'm not going to compare it to the best of the comic book's story lines. All I'll say is that the film managed to tell a good story while introducing us to pieces of a much larger universe. The characters were decent, the action was appropriate, and all the boundaries set down in the film around what certain things could and couldn't do were respected by the movie overall. The one issue I had dealt with a specific scene that I thought, for sake of story and character, could have been arranged differently, but I refuse to let that moment soil the full film experience.
It seems to me that geeks, no matter what you give them or how palatable you make it, have to tear shit apart. I've met very few geeks that are completely pleased with their passions and display commendable amounts of common sense in avoiding what they don't like. Unfortunately most geeks I know feel that their opinion is needed and that it must be used as a tool to curb creators to their tastes. Like anyone actually gives a damn. I prefer to try something to get a feel for it. I'll take it in, think it over, and then decide if I want to stick with it or abandon it. I understand passion driving one to become obnoxiously preachy about their feelings, but I'm trying (and I'd urge my fellow geeks to join me) to calm that part of me.
A certain clip from the film was passed around the internet before the actual film was released. It stirred up some geek ignorance which was accompanied by geek rantings. I've read judgements of an entire film based upon a short clip. This is not only ridiculous, it is incredibly disappointing. After seeing the film I must say that I now hold less respect for the opinions of those who slandered or libeled something based on a great lack of knowledge.
So to conclude I'll restate that this film is enjoyable and I would encourage fans to give it a shot. If you like it go with it. If you don't like it, stay away. Don't judge something when uninformed, don't use your opinions to obnoxiously attempt to bully people with your opinions, especially those who don't really listen to you, and learn to appreciate something based on what it offers instead of what it's supposed to offer based on source material or whatever else came before but is in relation to it.
Enjoy your comics. Enjoy your films. Be more open-minded. (This was written not to just berate people but to hopefully touch on the need for, and show the importance of, informed opinions instead of uninformed rants)
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