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. DarKush

    DarKush Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Thanks. Damn. I must have totally blanked out during that part because I don't remember that at all.
     
  2. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Daily estimates have been rolling in over the July 4th weekend and Green Lantern is going to pass the $100m domestic mark on Sunday, it's 17th day in release. It'll likely be at $104m for the long weekend.

    Box Office Mojo runs a showdown of similar movies.
    By day 17
    Thor = $145m domestic
    XM:FC = $120m domestic
     
  3. TemporalFlux

    TemporalFlux Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Watched this a second time, and I only saw more missed story and characterization opportunities.

    At the end, three Green Lanterns show up to rescue Hal - Tomar-Re, Kilowog and Sinestro. Why just those three? I would imagine it's because Tomar and Kilowog found out what was going on; shamed Sinestro for letting Hal go it alone; and then broke ranks to go help Hal on their own (Sinestro chasing after them). Of course, by the time the three get there, it's all over.

    The above scene would have taken maybe a minute of screen time, but it would have helped flesh out characters and tie the story together. We may yet find such a scene was filmed and edited out; I'm really interested to see what deleted scenes there are for this film and how much they help; I feel a "Daredevil: Director's Cut" type scenario may unfold.

    The after credits scene also finally made a little more sense to me this time around, but only because I took some guesses and basically imagined material that wasn't there.

    So Sinestro essentially just had to admit in front of the entire Corps that Hal Jordan was better than him; Hal had the ability to overcome the greatest fear the Corps ever faced. Sinestro probably couldn't stand this fact, and he wanted to prove he could do what Hal did. Of course, there was no Parallax around; but there was a yellow ring. That ring was Sinestro's chance; he could prove he could overcome such power; he could even be better than the Guardian who failed to control it! And, of course, as soon as Sinestro puts on the ring, the power starts to consume him (leaving it open for the sequel to follow his battle for control of the power and his eventual defeat by it).

    Again, the above needed maybe a couple of lines to explain. All they needed was Sinestro giving an angry monologue as he walked up to smash the yellow ring container. "I'll show them all!" and such.

    I think that's what bothers me most about the movie; I believe Sinestro was played alot like a Vulcan, and that's not who he is. Sinestro is OCD; he's not emotionless.
     
  4. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The three Green Lanterns that came to rescue Hal were the members of the Corps with most contact with him in the movie. I thought that was obvious.
     
  5. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    We know who they were, but the movie never showed us why Tomar-Re and Kilowog would break ranks and chase after Hal, because Hal never spent enough time around either character to really establish any sort of friendship.
     
  6. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Script flaw that they didn't show why they came for him. One of many in the film. I will disagree regarding Tomar Re. He spent the most time around Tomar since the latter is the one who taught him how to use the ring. Kilowog "trained" him and Sinestro spent the majority of the movie derailing him until the end.
     
  7. JacksonArcher

    JacksonArcher Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Aug 16, 2001
    I think Warner Bros. is in a different place then when they released Superman Returns. Back in 2006, they still had the Harry Potter franchise. Batman Begins had just come out, and The Dark Knight was on the horizon. They also didn't formalize DC Entertainment at that point, and I'm not quite sure they were fully aware of their cinematic plans at that point for DC superheroes.

    Flash-forward to 2011, and the final Harry Potter film debuts this month, leaving a huge void that WB needs to fill. On top of that, the lucrative Nolan Batman franchise is ending next year, and Superman is still an unproven commodity. Plus, WB has realized it needs to do something with its DC properties, and they've etched out battle plans and ideas. I think they more actively want to compete with Marvel now, but most importantly, they need franchises to fill the void being left by Harry Potter.

    I think Warner Bros. sees DC superheroes as the way to fill that void. I think they envision Green Lantern as an investment. If this movie is deemed a failure, what does that mean for future DC superhero installments a la The Flash, Man of Steel and other characters? WB didn't move forward with a Superman Returns sequel for numerous reasons, one being because they probably didn't really need that particular franchise at that current moment. I mean, the only reason why Man of Steel is moving forward in such a swift and timely fashion is because WB will lose partial rights to the character in 2013 if they don't. I'm fairly certain if WB wasn't in jeopardy of losing the rights the character would still be languishing in development hell.
     
  8. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I didn't really find that to be an issue myself. Those were the only three who were familiar with Hal, so it made sense they'd be the ones to show up.

    What DID bother me was the way the Guardians just stood by and let humanity be nearly destroyed by Parallax. I don't know the comics or mythology that well, but aren't the Guardians supposed to, you know, watch out and try to protect life to the best of their ability?

    As I said before, the way the Guardians and Corp are presented here, I'm not sure why Hal would WANT to join with up them.
     
  9. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The Guardians as presented in the film are a little too removed and aloof in my opinion. It does seem strange that they would "allow" an enemy of theirs that one of their own Corps members captured and imprisoned to just ravage an innocent planet. I still enjoyed the film and have seen it twice despite the flaws and problems that are being pointed out here. Hopefully IF there is indeed a sequel they can iron out the problems that were in this film and tell a more streamlined and tightened story. This one had a lot going on and was literally all over the place ;)
     
  10. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well after just seeing the latest Transformers, I'd say GL looks like the very model of tight and efficient storytelling. lol
     
  11. TemporalFlux

    TemporalFlux Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    In my mind, it wouldn't be so much an issue of friendship; it would be a statement of integrity as Tomar and Kilowog feel that abandoning anyone to their death is not the Corps they signed up for. Whether it be a person, a planet or a galaxy, the Lanterns keep fighting to the end. Up until that point, the civilizations that had died were because the Lanterns either couldn't get there in time or couldn't stop it despite attempting to; it wasn't until Earth that the Lanterns were being asked to just stand by and watch the planet die as an acceptable loss.

    That's what we're missing with the scene I talked about. Without that scene, we're just jumping to "Oh, these were the other characters that talked to Hal, so that must it." I think the characters would have acted the same way even if it was someone else; I think it was a defining moment in the characters of Tomar, Kilowog and Sinestro. It laid the groundwork of why Tomar, Kilowog and Hal could be good friends; they all thought the same way.

    Again, that's all speculation. Instead of the above, we got cardboard cut-outs that showed up to rescue Hal apparently just because they happened to talk to him earlier in the movie.
     
  12. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I think the development of the characters we were supposed to relate and become attached to as audience members got sacrificed at the expense of the ambitious nature of the overall plot and even the sub-plot with Hector. There wasn't really enough time in the film to have Hal interact with the Lanterns that he's supposed. Perhaps that is another thing that will be fixed in a potential sequel. Sinestro was well played by Mark Strong but I still feel like he didn't spend enough time with Hal. "First Flight" did a wonderful job even in a relatively short time focusing on their dynamic. I was thinking the live action film would be something similar.
     
  13. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    I just finished watching Ryan in "The Nines" and he was fricking fantastic.

    Green Lantern probably had a wonderful five hour script at some point but then they had to to slash the fucker in half anfd half againtill it barely made any sense.

    If the movie bombs enough to warrant no sequel and the DVD comes out, I wonder how honest the commentaries will be? If they know the well is dry maybe they can talk about the short comings and suckiness with impunity, but then we've seen what happens to even the worlds most beautiful woman if she calls Michael Bay "Hitler".
     
  14. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I wonder if there will be commentaries on the DVD. That seems to be a hit and miss feature on DVD's now.
     
  15. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The movie is already making it into the 'Flop' lists.

    How many flops get direct sequels again?

    The WB was blowing smoke, it's not getting a direct sequel folks.
    It's sad. We all deserved better but WB/GJohns blew it.

    The movie couldn't even hit $105m domestic over a long weekend in it's 3rd weekend. It's US total is now $103.6m

    I seriously have to question if $120m domestic is still in play.
     
  16. Gepard

    Gepard Vice Admiral Admiral

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    And in other news, the Transformers sequel made more in five days than Green Lantern in its entire run.

    Remember, the audience is always right! :p
     
  17. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    It's even worse when you see it's international takings, US$33.3m. At this rate it might be lucky to make it US$200m worldwide.
     
  18. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Oh well. A sequel would have been nice, but honestly I'm pretty content with the one movie we did get.

    It's not a situation like SR where it felt like the story was just getting started and we never really got to see Supes cut loose and kick some ass.
     
  19. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The "Superman Returns" situation is quite different since Bryan Singer had moved on to film "Valkyrie" and really never got a green light from Warner Bros regarding a sequel. There were plans for one and Singer has since revealed what those plans would have been. Warner Bros sat on the franchise after Returns and allowed Brandon Routh's contract to run out (on purpose is my own personal theory). If things had stayed on schedule and a Returns sequel actually happened it would have come out probably sometime in the summer of 2009.

    I will concede that the box office performance right now isn't doing a good job of convincing anyone that there will be a "Green Lantern" sequel. Perhaps DC Ent and Warner Bros are awaiting for possible DVD sales. We know studios factor those into their decisions.
     
  20. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Commodore Commodore

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    I been a lifelong fan of DC Comics. But never particularly of Green Lantern in any incarnation. But when this was announced I had certain curiosity at another DC character finally being made in a film.

    But nothing about it has looked good to me at all. From the casting to the design. Also there is this irritating pattern they are following of Marvel's of needing to present the most current changes in the comics to the origin. Parallax for example. Which has not yet shown it will survive the test of time.

    So I decided not to see this at all. Now make no mistake, I have no delusions that my choice to not purchase a single ticket will affect the overall box office of this film. Its just a personal choice. Building over many years of seeing years of crappy superhero films, that are seemingly being churned about like sausage. Which I kept on seeing out of curiosity.