Begin at the beginning...

Somebody I was talking to told me that they hated origin stories. I was confused because doesn't an origin story help set up important characters? Doesn't an origin story take the audience from knowing nothing of what they are walking into, to giving us all the details that we need to form an opinion of the character and their ways? I don't understand how somebody, especially a person that claims to enjoy superhero movies, can even say that they hate origin stories. After all, it all has to begin somewhere. 


I don't mind a good origin story movie when it comes to superhero films. After all, how do you introduce that character to a new audience, or an audience that doesn't know much about that character? Sure, you can take the approach that dropping the audience into the story forthright will make it more appealing. And maybe it could, to some of the audience. However, not giving anybody a place to start with is dangerous, and may lead to even more issues with the movie.

How'd you like a nice Hawaiian punch?

When The Green Lantern came out, I shared my view of this movie in a recent post. It wasn't a bad film, per se. It just didn't have anything terribly good to offer. It was an origin story, showing Hal Jordan's journey from a reckless pilot to a superhero saving the day. This movie had the task of giving us Hal before, during, and after he becomes this new hero. Some of it worked, Sinestro for one, and some of Oa as well. But most of it didn't. And therein lay the problem here. GL is an origin story that causes troubles, because at the end of the film, you still don't really know who Hal is, what the Green Lantern can truly do, and who the Corps really are. There are more questions than answers, and that feels like a cheat and a cop-out of sorts.