Movie News!

So there's gonna be a Green Lantern and a Flash movie!

This is pretty cool. Though I wonder at the wisdom of using Hal in Green Lantern and John in the JLA movie. It seems like it could be very confusing for non comic fans.

Then again, will non-comic fans really be watching it? Besides, there's always sequels. :-)

Oddly though, I've more to say about JLA and the Flash.

The Flash stuff is interesting. I was wondering why the Flash touted as the "youngest member" would be Barry Allen. Especially since, unlike the JLA Pilot from the nineties, where it made sense to name him Barry even if he had Wally's personality, because everyone remembered the tv show, it doesn't make sense now. Anyone who thinks "Flash" is probably going to think of the Justice League cartoon, not some cheesy old live-action show.

And, while I love Barry too, Wally's always struck me as better for the team dynamic of the Justice League. A calm nice guy is always valuable, but the youngster growing up with the group is usually more compelling. Not only does it give "an in" for the younger/newer viewers, but there's usually more potential for tense group dynamics.

Now, having the Flash that's "the youngest member" and having the Flash that's "Barry Allen" be two different Flashes? That would make perfect sense. And really, Barry's death would be a really good place to set the action.

Origin stories tend to get bogged down by this, that and the other, needing to spend too much time getting everything in place before the action. I've always preferred what I call "the Three Musketeers" method. When you get one new guy/gal joining up with a pre-established group (or at least folks that already somewhat knew each other). Then that character, whether it's D'Artagnan, Elle Greenaway, Tim Bayliss, or whomever, becomes the audience entry point, allowing us to get to know the characters through their eyes. Meanwhile, the other characters get to have these complex interrelationships that are a lot of fun.

It saves time too, because the newbie invariably gets a trial by fire, so it rushes right into the action instead of wasting a lot of time with set-up. A movie like this, you need action. Lots of it.

Starting with Barry Allen's death would give a bit of seriousness to it too. It's easy enough for a movie like this to be cheesy and cartoonish, probably inevitable really. It's never going to be Batman Begins, and really it shouldn't be. These characters aren't Bruce, and the same sort of story is NOT going to work for any of them. And honestly, would we really want all the comic book movies to be Batman Begins? If I want to see Batman Begins again, I'll rent it. Or watch Dark Knight, which does admittedly look good. But just like not all heroes are Batman, not all heroic movies should be Batman Begins either.

Anyway, starting with a death would emphasize that while it is cheesy, cartoony and fun, there are still consequences. If that's where they're going with this, anyway. It'd make sense, at least.

I'm mostly happy because I like Wally. Also, hey, Linda would maybe be in it too! Sure Wally's had other interests previously, but they're relatively unimportant and easily skipped. I love Linda though. She's strongwilled and a lot of fun. And heck, it's nice to see more non-white leading ladies. (Not that I have anything against my own race, but it's not like I'm suffering for lack of representation, :-).)

Damn, I'm actually more excited about JLA/Flash than Green Lantern! Blasphemy! (I'm sure that'll be remedied when they have more news. I hope they remember to give Hal a concussion at least!)