Disappointed at the theater this weekend...

On Sunday, for Father's Day, Christene and the kids took me to breakfast at IHOP. Afterward they gave me my card, which had a photo of grill utensils, and we drove to Lowes Hardware so I could pick out a grill.


(Yes, I've lived in North Carolina for 13 years now without ever owning a grill)

But as we were waiting for the guy at Lowes to first get us the grill and then help me to load it into the van (he never did come back and I had to get someone else to help me) Christene kept saying we were somewhat pressed for time.

The reason was that the third present for Father's Day: tickets to see "Green Lantern" in 3D! She dropped Caleb, Ben and me off at the theater.

So the boys and I got drinks (no need for food since we'd just had lunch) and went in to wait for the film.

And right away I should have realized something was wrong when, during the wait, there was no video shown on the screen. Usually there's the standard set of commercial images the theater cycles through, their advertisers, while a pseudo-radio station plays other advertisements. But we only had the audio.

At 1:05p, five minutes before the film was to start, I called the theater's number and asked why there was no video present. By 1:10p the theater manager came in to say that the bulb had burned out on the projector and they were going to replace it and that should only take a few minutes.

Ten minutes later he came back in to say they identified the problem (which I thought they had already done) and were fixing it and it should be 5-10 minutes till the film was on. And, to make up for that, they would start it without the trailers (BOO! I LOVE TRAILERS).

Finally, after half an hour, the film started.

But, during the climactic battle sequence at the end of the film THE AUDIO SHUT OUT. It went back to playing the pseudo-radio station, and we couldn't hear anything that was being said by Hal Jordon or certain others who were on screen at that moment.

So I again (for the fourth time) called the theater from my seat and asked if anybody was aware the audio was off.

Someone fixed it, but it was after the battle had finished. So the dramatic exchange was completely lost on us. To compensate us, the manager did give everybody free tickets to another 3D showing of either GL or another film. But, really, I was so looking forward to THIS SHOWING and was very disappointed at the bungling at the theater. They've never been this inept before, so I hope it was just a one-time thing.

And, for those of you were were thinking this was going to be about the "Green Lantern" film itself: well, that too was a little disappointing. Granted I went in hoping that the producers could do justice to my favorite Ring Slinger. And they did do a good job of portraying Hal Jordan, Killowog, Sinestro and others. I would have loved more Lanterns (Kehaan or Laira or Boodikka) or maybe a nod to Jon Stewart or even Saalak at some point.

But where I think they fell short was in putting together a cohesive story. They went way too quickly from Hal's induction to Parralax, which is a pivotal time for him. I would have rather had the main focus be put on Hector Hammond, who was a wasted villain in the movie.

Really, all in all, the film was a middle of the road for someone like me who enjoys the character. But I don't think it's really a film that's going to appeal to most anybody else.

But the climactic scene at the ending, during the credits, got me REALLY excited for a sequel. And I just hope the studios learn from the first film and then make that second film.