Tonight, the battle of the century – it’s Gentlemen Hecklers v Green Lantern!

Ryan Reynolds stars as the titular character in 2011's Green Lantern.

Ryan Reynolds stars as the titular character in 2011’s Green Lantern.

“It’s a big, bright, beautiful chunk of cheese,” says Eric Fell of the anti-gem Green Lantern.

In honour of the 2011 superhero flick, Fell and his fellow comedians Patrick Maliha and Shaun Stewart are going up against the film tonight (May 11) as part of their ongoing Gentlemen Heckler series at the Rio Theatre (1660 E. Broadway). Fell had a few more things to say about the movie…

Inside Vancouver: Why Green Lantern?

Eric Fell: It’s a big, bright, beautiful chunk of cheese. Despite its cast and crew, who have all done really good stuff, it’s one hilarious misstep after the other. It’s desperate in its desire to let you know it’s the first part of a franchise (which of course never materialized). It kind of feels like you’re on a first date and instead of ordering dinner, your date whips out an engagement ring and says “SOON.” And, most importantly, we were able to get the rights for the movie.

IV: Is it this the worst superhero movie ever, or is it just particularly bad in its own way?

EF: No matter how bad a superhero movie is, another one is going to come along and redefine the word “worst.” Despite being a silly, lumbering oaf of a movie, it still has a glimmer of optimism to it. I don’t think we would ever subject our audience (or ourselves) to something as nihilistic as Batman v Superman. We are, after all, Gentlemen.

IV: When you do these, what is the typical preparation like? What was preparation like for Green Lantern?

EF: We screen a bunch of movies to see if they’re appropriate to riff (I usually watch three-to-five movies for every one we choose). We then find out if we get the rights to it, then we break off and write our scripts. We each typically write about 350 jokes for a two-hour movie. Then we get together and go over our stuff, changing and editing where needed. We usually wind up with about 900 jokes per movie. Green Lantern was no different in this case. It was a joy to write, and we hope people will enjoy themselves at our show!

Blake Lively also stars in 2011's Green Lantern.

Blake Lively also stars in 2011’s Green Lantern.

More info can be found on their Facebook page and website.

Doors are at 9, movie is at 9:30. Tickets $10 advance at riotheatretickets.ca, $12 at the door. Must be 19+ w/ID for entry and bar service.

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