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

[Lieut. Arex]

That it was the asteroid belt never occurred to me. The field covers a limited area and the size of the sun when Hal looks at it is larger than it would appear from Earth rather than smaller. More like what one would see near Venus. I'd guess it's the rocky remnants of a comet with all the volatiles boiled away. Yeah, it's too dense to be that either, but it's not the asteroid belt.

[StarTrek1701]

Lieut. Arex wrote:

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That it was the asteroid belt never occurred to me. The field covers a limited area and the size of the sun when Hal looks at it is larger than it would appear from Earth rather than smaller. More like what one would see near Venus. I'd guess it's the rocky remnants of a comet with all the volatiles boiled away. Yeah, it's too dense to be that either, but it's not the asteroid belt.

Then what was it?

[davejames]

Dennis wrote:

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If Green Lantern can't be a successful movie, then it can't - but this movie was observant and faithful to the spirit and most of the details of the Green Lantern comic.

I think the key is that it's faithful to the spirit of the simple, cornball original comics. Those are the ones I grew up on, and so I never have a problem when a movie like this (or Superman or Spidey or the Rocketeer) goes for the same kind of simple, cheesy tone.

Of course today's comics are MUCH more intricate and complex, and I get the impression that's what most people expect from the movies as well.

[Skywalker]

I finally got around to seeing this earlier (well, yesterday, now). I thought it was a decent, by-the-numbers origin story. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't all that remarkable, either. The theater I went to was only showing it in 3D, but I thought this movie used it fairly well, particularly on Oa.

Ryan Reynolds was enjoyable, though I still think he would have made a better Wally West. Still, Hal Jordan is not an especially deep or complex character, and Reynolds did a good job of adding some layers to him. I also thought Blake Lively did well as Carol Ferris, and Mark Strong's Sinestro was also pretty good.

My only gripe with Sinestro is that his motivation for taking the yellow power ring at the end felt pretty flimsy, since the threat had been defeated and no real schism between him and the Guardians had ever developed. I would have liked his storyline better if the Guardians had refused to give him the ring, and then he took it by force after deciding he was the only one willing to do whatever it took to stop Parallax. And then during the final battle he fails, and Hal Jordan proves that he's the better man by destroying Parallax--which just enrages Sinestro further, given his contempt for Jordan.

I also would have liked to see Hal spend more time on Oa, befriending Tomar-Re and earning Kilowog's grudging respect. I say that because I thought it would have been nice to see them, and only them, go with Hal to try and save Earth. But of course both would have to be incapacitated during the battle, leaving Hal to stop Parallax on his own.

The movie gets bonus points for calling out that ridiculous mask, though. I can accept the conceit in comic books, but in movies they're pretty ridiculous.

Final grade: B-

[Admiral Buzzkill]

davejames wrote:

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I think the key is that it's faithful to the spirit of the simple, cornball original comics. Those are the ones I grew up on, and so I never have a problem when a movie like this (or Superman or Spidey or the Rocketeer) goes for the same kind of simple, cheesy tone.

Of course today's comics are MUCH more intricate and complex, and I get the impression that's what most people expect from the movies as well.

Nah, I still read Green Lantern from time to time - this movie is right in line with Johns' take on GL, which is not surprising considering the level of his involvement with it. In fact, there's more of his Green Lantern here than there is of the 1960s version.

Nor is there a single way in which a somewhat more successful movie like Thor can be described as "intricate" or "complex" in its storytelling; the movie's almost schematic in its simplicity, and about as cornball as you can get. So that's not an explanation for the complaints about GL (and of course, you cite Spidey as another example of a movie with a "cheesy" tone, and its popularity humbles all but Nolan's Batman and maybe Iron Man in its success - every other superhero movie is trailing those three by a long distance now).

Of course, there were comparisons between Star Wars and GL, in terms of the scope and tone, before it was released - and that might not have been a good model for them. If a space opera movie with the broad tone, goofy humor and heavy-handed dichotomy between the good and bad characters that Star Wars is memorable for were released now, it'd likely be savaged.

[Professor Zoom]

Lieut. Arex wrote:

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That it was the asteroid belt never occurred to me. The field covers a limited area and the size of the sun when Hal looks at it is larger than it would appear from Earth rather than smaller. More like what one would see near Venus. I'd guess it's the rocky remnants of a comet with all the volatiles boiled away. Yeah, it's too dense to be that either, but it's not the asteroid belt.

Well, it CAN'T be the asteroid belt, because it's the other direction. Realistically, it's not the remnants of a comet either.

You know what it is? A writer and a director's poorly thought out idea.

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Having seen GL again this evening, I found again that since there's no longer much point in worrying about the box office it's more fun to watch. It's rather like Serenity in that respect - based upon the encouragement of someone close to me to take an interest in it I had high hopes for that movie, loved it when I saw it and was very disappointed that it bombed and foreclosed the possibility of more to come. Years have passed, I still love the movie, and the fact that it was a commercial failure is trivial now.

[OdoWanKenobi]

plynch wrote:

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(I'm stealing from a reviewer)

Not the Sinestro as we see him in this film. He's the best character in a goodness sense. Internal logic doesn't support him donning the ring. Some hints needed to be dropped about a character flaw, or even showing him feeling seduced by it a la Bilbo.

IIRC, you just see him putting it on. Why? So he can become evil for the sequel, is all. I liked the move in general for its not-so-pretentiousness, but the Sinestro-ring thing did need a touch of characte develpment to explain it, IMO.

Agreed 100% I'm gonna get into a little bit of fan-wank territory here, but I have an idea for what they really should have done. One, sad to say it as he was probably the best thing in the film, but ditch Hector Hammond. Replace him with Atrocitus, and have Atrocitus be the one to kill Abin Sur. Then Sinestro takes Hal under his wing as the two of them track down Atrocitus together. This gives plenty of opportunity to show that Sinestro is perhaps not entirely stable. Have him be brutal and ruthless in his pursuit. Then once they've caught up with Atrocitus, he give Sinestro a peek at his future, causing Sinestro to murder him (Not my choice, but there seems to be a rule that the bad guy has to die in superhero movies.) If they were really dead-set on Parralax, they could have had Atrocitus as a minion of him. He laughs as he dies and warns them that something much bigger than him is coming. It could be made to work. Perhaps Atrocitus turned to Parralax in his quest for revenge on the Guardians.

There you go. That would have made the film far less Earth-bound (a primary complaint,) given Sinestro much more screen time and development while making it far more believable that he would become a villain (another complaint,) and working in Atrocitus, who is a fan favorite. Also, if they're pursuing Atrocitus across the galaxy, it allows them to work in more Lanterns, with brief team-ups. Boodika, Arisia? Come one. give the Corps more to do.

So yeah, there's my totally pointless "how I would have made Green Lantern" rant. Of course, that's not the movie they made, and it will never be made so.....yeah.

[Gaith]

OdoWanKenobi wrote:

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So yeah, there's my totally pointless "how I would have made Green Lantern" rant. Of course, that's not the movie they made, and it will never be made so.....yeah.

Well, I would have taken this girl...

As "Hannah Jordan", with a suit not entirely unlike this...

And given her a love interest, pictured below, who, at a Halloween party, wears this...

... And I would have had several, if not dozens, of Corps members flying around and blowing shit up.


... But hey, I'm just a random plebe, and the WB is a huge multinational corporation. I'm sure that they know best.

[Lieut. Arex]

StarTrek1701 wrote:

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Then what was it?

Uh...

Lieut. Arex wrote:

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I'd guess it's the rocky remnants of a comet with all the volatiles boiled away. Yeah, it's too dense to be that either, but it's not the asteroid belt.

Skywalker wrote:

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I also would have liked to see Hal spend more time on Oa, befriending Tomar-Re and earning Kilowog's grudging respect. I say that because I thought it would have been nice to see them, and only them, go with Hal to try and save Earth. But of course both would have to be incapacitated during the battle, leaving Hal to stop Parallax on his own.

Pre-production art shows this very thing, those four fighting Parallax in Coast City. My guess is the filmmakers decided it was best Hal defeat the villain on his own. That those three show up so quickly at the end has got to be a left-over from the earlier draft.

Professor Zoom wrote:

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Well, it CAN'T be the asteroid belt, because it's the other direction. Realistically, it's not the remnants of a comet either.

You know what it is? A writer and a director's poorly thought out idea.

No doubt. I would have preferred a running battle through the Solar System and set this action, if you gotta have Parallax and Hal fight in a rockpile, in Saturn's rings or have them smash an Apollo-type asteroid in the fight. Anything other than an unrealistically dense clump of rocks in the inner system.

[Admiral_Young]

I think it would have been pretty cool if the fight started on Earth with Parallax then proceeded through the Solar System as you suggest. Showing the fact that Hal is just not protector of Earth alone but the entire system. If we do get a sequel, I would like to see Hal travel to the other planets in our "sector".

[Guy Gardener]

1/3600th of the universe is a little larger than one solar system.

I was more interested in noticing larger implications of the DCU that could see the JLA forming at some point.

God forbid his best pal "Green Arrow"?

I rewatched the Flash recently, and in one episode Barry calls a nosey reporter Lois Lane, who was not Lois Lane of course but the character "Linda Park" which makes you wonder if there was a Superman saving the world in that show every week too but slightly off camera?

Which would be millions of dollars in licensing.

But how much could Jimmy Olsen or Etta Candy cost?

[OdoWanKenobi]

Well, considering that Warner Brothers owns DC, it wouldn't cost a god damn thing.

[Kestrel]

Gaith wrote:

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Well, I would have taken this girl... As "Hannah Jordan", with a suit not entirely unlike this...

And given her a love interest, pictured below, who, at a Halloween party, wears this...

Is your solution to everything "needs more lipstick lesbians"?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ That is an EXCELLENT philosophy of life.