Green Lantern: Grading, Review, Discuss, Tracking, Sequel?

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Captain Craig, Jun 16, 2011.

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How would you grade Green Lantern?

Poll closed Jan 2, 2012.
  1. A+

    5 vote(s)
    3.5%
  2. A

    7 vote(s)
    4.9%
  3. A-

    11 vote(s)
    7.7%
  4. B+

    20 vote(s)
    14.1%
  5. B

    18 vote(s)
    12.7%
  6. B-

    23 vote(s)
    16.2%
  7. C+

    10 vote(s)
    7.0%
  8. C

    15 vote(s)
    10.6%
  9. C-

    13 vote(s)
    9.2%
  10. D+

    4 vote(s)
    2.8%
  11. D

    3 vote(s)
    2.1%
  12. D-

    3 vote(s)
    2.1%
  13. F

    10 vote(s)
    7.0%
  1. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

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    [​IMG]

    Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, is the latest of the DC Comics stable to finally make it to the big screen.

    RottenTomatoes
    Yahoo! Movies
    IMDB User Grade
    Metacritic
     
  2. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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  3. Gepard

    Gepard Vice Admiral Admiral

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    "Greg Lantern." :lol:
     
  4. The Habs Fan

    The Habs Fan Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2005
    Location:
    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    C

    Here is my review from the other thread:

    I saw this movie tonight at an advanced screening.

    There were some good parts, but overall the movie is not very good. I think the biggest problem is that there's too much stuff crammed into this movie. It would've benefited from having just one villain rather than two. Some of the plot points are not fully explained, leaving you scratching your head wondering what happened between point A and point B (probably more of a direction/editing issue rather than a script issue).

    On a positive note, it's better than X-Men 3 and Wolverine.
     
  5. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

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    So I've come home from my packed screener, still wearing my Green Lantern T-Shirt and decided to go ahead and give some 'first blush' opinions on the movie. I've seen worse comic films, I've seen better, this summer already in fact but hey, they tried.

    This will contain spoilers, like all our review threads, If you don't want to be spoiled skip this post but do know this: THERE IS NO POST CREDIT SCENE IF YOUR CURIOUS---HOWEVER, THERE IS A SCENE ABOUT 45 SECONDS INTO THE CREDITS.


    Grade: C

    ***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS****SPOILERS****SPOILERS***SPOILERS***

    The movie opens with a narration about what the GLC is, what it's comprised of, how many sectors it covers and just what it is they fear: Parallax. How a noble Lantern managed to trap and entomb this entity in a far off sector of space :cut to our first scene:

    At this point we open on a small moon where a crash landed alien ship is and 3 survivors are walking the surface. Their weight causes a hole to open in the surface and they fall through, down into the moon itself. As they stumble up they realize they are in a cavern and come face to face with the just described Paralax. Parallax is able to abosorb their fear and break free of his prison :Six Months Later:

    We jump to OA, meet Sinestro, see a brief shot of the planet. He contacts Abin Sur whose on a rescue mission to help vicitims of Parallax whose been roaming the galaxy amassing power and destroying civilizations. Parallax finds Sur, attacks, mortally wounding him and he takes off for "the nearest inhabited world" :cut to Hal Jordan waking up next to a babe:

    We meet Hal, he goes to Ferris, we meet Carol and are shown a scene of why Hal is fearless, brave, couragous, stupid or all of the above.
    ^^^END SPOILERS^^^END SPOILERS^^^^END SPOILERS

    I really don't intend to do a full play-by-play, my feelings are that the movie is choppy, uneven and at times unsure of what it's trying to be. Is it taking the material serious and giving us a movie that is intense and serious OR is it going to be a rom/com/action campy flick? There are times when I felt it was working then abruptly shifted gears in tone.

    I know on this site and a few others the Thor comparisons were made early based just on the plot synopsis and having seen the movie I think they are there in a few other areas. Sadly, they didn't put it together as well as Thor(and Thor wasn't perfect per se) but Thor did do it better.

    Hector's Father, a senator=Odin
    Hector=Loki
    Hal and Thor are opposites: Earthman to Alien world, Godly alien to Earth

    The movie needed more character development, badly imo. I don't buy Hal's friend in the movie as someone that would be close pals with Hal. No chemistry.

    The one area of the film I was surprised about was Blake Lively as Carol honestly. She didn't look like Carol but I bought her hard nosed, steel reserve attitude that Blake brought to her. I did feel like Carol and Hal had a past.

    Hammond has one really big action sequence near the end but I never fully bought into him as "evil" per se. Again, were they going for the sympathetic tragedy angle with him?

    The movie kept telling me Hal was irresponsible, reckless and a possible aloof player but I never SAW those things. One chick in bed doesn't make you a player. Being late to work the one time we saw isn't irresponsible. He wasn't reckless in the faux dog fight, it's his job, like he said to "push the limits and test the prototype".

    The screener was in 3-D and it was fairly effective for at least half the movie.

    How was the CGI? He worked in more places than it didn't, I'll say that. They did manage to clean up a lot of it as most of us suspected but sadly with that much really alien landscaping and creatures when it's all there in a clump it shows in this case.

    My girl-friend that I saw it with made the comment about Parallax at the end that she's seen that affect before, in FFour2. Which didn't cross my mind but really she's right. A giant malevolent force destroying civilizations as it absorbs them in it's mass to gain power & strength. It's seen doing this in the trailer so it's not a spoiler imo.

    Summary: Forced, Uneven, Lacks Good Flow, Disjointed but good action scenes, some good 3-D for a change(cough Pirates,Priest).

    My 'first blush' thoughts, going to bed.
     
  6. StarTrek1701

    StarTrek1701 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Oh dear... :(
     
  7. Samurai8472

    Samurai8472 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Mar 27, 2007
  8. StarTrek1701

    StarTrek1701 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2008
    The decision to go with the CGI suit was a bad one from the start. Maybe add some touch ups or something to a skin-fitted suit like Spidey's was. With the reviews its getting, WB might be in for a big shock either way.

    EDIT: @Samurai8472, you are certainly right about that. :(
     
  9. JoeZhang

    JoeZhang Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2008
    I seriously doubt that the suit is the key issue that will sink this film.
     
  10. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Location:
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    It was a bit distracting at times. Not only does it course through the "veins" on the suit, nearly all the time, but several times little sparks of energy are flaring off the mask while he's talking.

    This movie imo, falls into the mediocrity range of comic films like Fantastic Four or the first Ang Lee Hulk movie. It has it's stretches where it feels like a nice adaptation then shifts in tone for a sequence or two and just doesn't click.

    Another thing I left out due to being tired I guess last night was:
    When Hal, as Green Lantern, first approaches Carol in her office he begins speaking in this deeper, gravely voice and the audience burst out laughing...not in a good way. There is no way that was meant to be funny, him going all Bale as Batman vocally.
     
  11. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I wouldn't say it was a "bad" idea (because there is a lot of merit to having a non-traditional suit for this character), but it was just so so unnecessary.

    Fans have accepted all kinds of crazy things in superhero movies, and I doubt anyone would be fazed by one more skin-tight, leather superhero costume.
     
  12. JoeZhang

    JoeZhang Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2008
    But since it's a ring construct - why would he have a leather Superhero costume?
     
  13. Goliath

    Goliath Vice Admiral Admiral

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    That's kind of a personal question, don't you think?

    What two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home is really nobody's business but their own.
     
  14. Jax

    Jax Admiral Admiral

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    The Universe.
    $200 million budget, GL could be in trouble here with the recent WoM.
     
  15. JoeZhang

    JoeZhang Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2008
  16. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    WOM=Word Of Mouth

    **jink**
     
  17. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2001
    I enjoyed it as your typical special effects-laden summer superhero movie. I'll give it a B.

    Ryan Reynolds
    Reynolds was entertaining in the part, but he wasn't Hal Jordan, he was Ryan Reynolds, complete with his mannerisms and sense of humor.

    Blake Lively
    I don't know a lot about Carol Ferris, but I knew that Blake Lively didn't embody the character. It wasn't quite Jessica Alba all over again, but that's what I'm reminded of. Not a complaint really, just an observation. Blake was still easy on the eyes and put some sophistication into her character.

    Sinestro
    Mark Strong was serviceable as Sinestro. He seemed to play the part quite well, but for some reason I felt that he lacked presence or charisma.

    The Story
    I liked the setup and introduction to the characters as well as the origin story and Ryan's training. Yeah, they did manage to get a lot in there without too much trouble, I thought. The training was especially good with its mix of action, fx use, and dialog. And as for Ryan and Blake working well toghether, I agree. They had chemistry. What didn't impress me in the movie were the handling of Hector Hammond and Parallax, the two villains. Both seemed to have potential, but that was never realized and they fizzled out. Also, a lot of superhero movies tend to have uninspired showdowns and this movie was no different.

    The Costume
    I absolutely loved the CGI costume. I thought it was a good idea when I first heard about it and the end result really worked. I don't think I've seen a "living" fluid-like costume like this before, so the novelty was also a part of my liking it. I wasn't distracted by the energy filaments either. And it did look like latex in a number of shots. They've come a long way since Automan.

    The FX
    Loved the special effects. Kilowog looked a bit fake, but the other characters and the environment of Oa looked good. None of it, or at least very little of it came off as in-your-face CGI to the point of distraction. They avoided sweeping camera shots you usually get with CGI cityscapes and that helped. The ring constructs looked great too. Loved seeing all the stuff that was created with the rings, especially the life-sized hotwheels racetrack and the water. The only things that were really distracting were Sinestro's ears. You could tell they were rubber.

    Other Stuff

    - Saw it in 2D.

    - The woman in Ryan's bed looked like Scarlett Johansson.

    - I thought it was a nice touch to have "Sapphire" as Carol's call sign. They even had the Violet Lantern symbol on her helmet.

    - People in the theatre were laughing every time the disfigured Hammond showed up on screen and I don't think he was meant to be funny like that.

    - I'm looking at the IMDb and it shows Nick Jones as John Stewart. Didn't notice him in the film. Were his scenes cut or was he just a blip?

    - I was waiting to see Sinestro put on the yellow ring, and disappointment started to set in when the movie was coming to an end and it looked like he wasn't going to. Still, I figured that a post-credits scene would show him do this, and sure enough, they came through, mid-credits though. Guess this is where they'll go if a sequel is made. And that's a big "if" it seems. Looks like he'll be corrupted by the ring as opposed to wielding it because he was corrupt. Don't know if I like that angle since it would look like he wouldn't be responsible for his actions, but it could be interesting to see play out.
     
  18. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    Here is an awesome GL pic that I found online. :D

    [​IMG]
     
  19. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    I thought that was supposed to be funny. I saw it as them making fun of all those times the hero confronts his girl while in disguise and she doesn't recognize him.
     
  20. Obiwanshinobi

    Obiwanshinobi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    mmmmmm I'll pass. I'll wait until the DVD release.