The release of Thor last week marks the beginning of a summer filled with comic book movies. The setup for The Avengers will continue later with Captain America: First Avenger, and we will also get a look at beginning of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters as X-Men: First Class. DC Comics finally wakes up from the collective ass kicking they’ve been receiving at the box office with Green Lantern.
It is a summer almost too crowded with comic book movies. That is, if you’re one of those people who don’t love a good popcorn flick. We kicked the question around the table at CliqueClack HQ:
Katie: X-Men: First Class. It looks fantastic, and James McAvoy is dreamy as the younger Xavier. Yeah, I’m going full fangirl on this one.
Bob: I’m probably looking forward to Captain America the most. Thor is getting a lot of good buzz, and I want to see it, but I’m intrigued with the look and feel of the Cap movie because it’s a period piece. I think it has a lot of potential, and should be pretty unique in the genre. Also, it could just be me, but Green Lantern looks like a special kind of awful.
Carla: I agree, I’m most looking forward to Captain America. I will go see all three, but the Green Lantern trailer cut down my excitement for it. Thor looks interesting, but Captain America looks like it will be summer popcorn superhero fun.
Debbie: This is the perfect time for me to chime in and say that I thought I was looking most forward to Green Lantern, but only because I love Ryan Reynolds. Bob’s reply prompted me to check out the trailer, which I had never seen, and he’s right … that trailer is so bad it almost looks like a spoof trailer. How very disappointing.
Carla: Same here. I love Ryan Reynolds … but talk about cheesy looking! Though, I thought the G.I. Joe trailer was horrible and wasn’t going to see the movie, but it ended up being one of my favorite movies that summer.
Michael: Green Lantern looks amazingly craptastical. Thor: I. Violated. The. Throne. At. Comic-Con. So … how could I not head out to see this flick? Captain America holds the most promise for me, partially because of the fact the aftermath of the entire super-soldier serum debacle ends up transforming Theodore Sallis into the most macabre muck monster of all time, Man-Thing … my most beloved of all Marvel characters! *SWOON* And good gordness, people: He’s a homegrown symbol of justice! He’s Captain America! Oh. Yeah. And because it’s a period piece, too.
[And then things turned ugly]
An: Green Lantern, ‘cus Hal Jordan’s awesome and I love Ryan Reynolds’ abs.
[The conversation then turned to a compassion between Reynolds’ and Chris Evans’ abs — It wasn’t pretty. Then Noble somehow mentioned his “appreciation” for redheads, and I had no clue where the conversation went off the rails.]
(Our newest Clacker) Jeremy: At this point, I’d say the X-Men movie because it has some great actors and looks great, then after that probably Captain America, because we need our yearly over the top Nazi film. [Check out his review of the Scott Pilgrim DVD]
[Someone was worried that we’d coasted right by her “appreciation” for McAvoy, and sought to remind us.]
Katie: I don’t know if you saw it, but I originally put down X-Men. It frankly looks really smart and mature. I love that the Cuban Missle Crisis is in the background and the focus is on the relationship between Charles and Eric. The fact that the McAvoy and Fassbender are supersexy, smart men just makes it that much better.
So, in case you missed it, Katie really likes her some McAvoy and Fassbender. Me personally? I’m really looking forward to all of them. I enjoyed Thor, and equally look forward to seeing Cap rock some Nazis. I think Katie said enough about X-Men for all of us … But it is Green Lantern that will get my vote, if for no other reason than the hate it received during this conversation. Reynolds is a funny, funny guy, and I’m not afraid of a story with cosmic implications.
Which movie are you looking forward to?
Clacked by Ivey West 
on May 08, 2011 @ 16:10 EST5EDT
I already saw and enjoyed Thor, so I voted for X-men, a franchise I love.
I think it’s the Mad Men fan in me that loves handsome men in 60s garb.
I’m going for Captain America because it’s a really gutsy move starting with his true WWII origins instead of having him wake up already in the present and just flashing back to his past (although setting X-Men: First Class in the 60s is pretty cool too).
Although it’s the most iffy movie of the three remaining, I’m looking forward to Green Lantern the most. It looks very ambitious, I’m a fan of the comic, and the movie has a high ceiling. If it pulls off the CGI craziness well, it could be like a superhero Star Wars with its expansive universe of alien cultures and lifeforms. If not, they’ll miss out on some great sequel potential, because I’d like to see how they handle Sinestro, and possibly some additional Green Lanterns from Earth.
I’m curious, what turns some of you off about Green Lantern? Do you think the CGI is bad? The cloud of doom over the city, which I’m hoping is more than just that? Ryan Reynolds?
I’m not a huge fan of big CGI fests. I still don’t think the technology is quite up to snuff. Give me a giant latex Jabba puppet over CGI Jabba any day.
With that being said, the previews come off as looking cheesy to me. There hurtling through space and aliens and… just not what I look for in a super hero movie. I’ve always related better to the Marvel comics than the DC universe, maybe that has something to do with it.
. . . . .
I’m with Bob, Stan. This vehicle looks like one, huge cheesefest.
I’m with you in that it appears extremely ambitious, but the goofiness of it – bad jokes (bad to me, at any rate) and hammy acting I’ve seen in the previews and the CGI costume – seems extremely off-putting.
I’m also in Bob’s corner in that I’ve been a Marvel geek more than a DC geek, regardless of the fact I thought the last two Batman films were spiffy.
Yes … I’ll still go see it hoping to be surprised. But I figure if I go in with the attitude it’s going to be laughable (and not in a good way) and I end up leaving the theater surprised at the outcome (in a good way), I’ll chalk that up as a success for the film.