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

[davejames]

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.

Maybe, but regardless of Singer's schedule or talk of "plans", it seemed pretty clear to me that the WB was never terribly excited or motivated to make a sequel to SR.

I'm sure if they were, Singer (being the huge Superman fan that he is) wouldn't have hesitated to make room in his schedule for it.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ That's my point though. The studio had no desire to continue the franchise with that incarnation. That doesn't negate anything that I stated. The studio's lack of motivation is probably what made Singer decide to go do "Valkyrie".

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I just saw it for the first time, in 3D. I gave it a B- in the poll. Here is some brief feedback.

Any problems I had with the look, effects, and actors were minor compared to the movie's most serious problem: the lack of a coherent story. It began very strong, but by the last act everything was definitely unraveling and going nowhere.

I felt that the central theme that the movie had to offer was the realization that Hal didn't need to be fearless, but rather that he could have fear if he could overcome it. This realization should have occurred exactly at the climax of the film, but alas this realization was dispensed with before the climax, which instead was just a light show with zero emotional impact. The idea that Parallax could be so easily destroyed also made no sense. In addition, I felt that the whole last act was padded out with too many throw-away scenes hinging on clichés, like the smooch before the final battle and the everybody-clear-the-street scene.

It's a shame that the movie had all of the technical components that it needed, and ironic that what plagues it is the most low-tech issue of all: writing.

Mark Strong was very, very good, and probably gave the best portrayal in the movie. To be honest, I thought the movie looked really great.

 

[davejames]

I felt that the central theme that the movie had to offer was the realization that Hal didn't need to be fearless, but rather that he could have fear if he could overcome it. This realization should have occurred exactly at the climax of the film, but alas this realization was dispensed with before the climax, which instead was just a light show with zero emotional impact. The idea that Parallax could be so easily destroyed also made no sense. In addition, I felt that the whole last act was padded out with too many throw-away scenes hinging on clichés, like the smooch before the final battle and the everybody-clear-the-street scene.

Yeah Hal's fears and doubts were handled pretty superficially, but I thought the movie did just enough to make me care about and root for him when the final battle came-- and as Parallax pointed out, he was still struggling with his fear all the way through that. Which is what I thought made the battle (as brief as it was) so exciting to watch.

It didn't feel to me like everything was settled beforehand and he had already "conquered" all his problems.

 

[Captain Craig]

The bad news keeps mounting up for Green Lantern regarding box office domestic take. To finish out the week it pulled another $900K for a new domestic total of $106.5m on it's nearly 3,300 screens. Worldwide take is just $139m as of now.

This weekend when theaters get to dump screens going into it's 4th weekend GL is getting dumped hard. It's losing 1,200 screens. Which is harsh.

For comparison on their 4th weekend:
Thor lost 600 screens
XM:FC lost 750 screens

Theaters are dumping this movie hard. I doubt seriously if it'll even be at $110m after this weekend.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

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!

Well, the latest Transformers was a better movie.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Not really.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Well, for what it's worth, I've been a fan of Green Lantern since I was five. I've never been a fan of Transformers. I thought Dark of the Moon was infinitely more entertaining.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The first half of transformers was way better than Green Lantern... But once the agenda became clear, that the Decepticons wanted a slave force of 6 billion humans i had to scratch my head. Given their technology, humans would only slow down any tech or project they had a thousand fold.

And how do they get all those slaves?

by frakking the earth.

Oop.

Killed all our slaves.

However I did marvel that they called what happened on the darkside of the moon an "Event" then that Decepticons had been guiding and controlling human government and industry for the last 40 years and then that their game plan was to teleport a small planet into Earths orbit.

Lawsuit?

(The event copied the transformer cartoon from the 80s first.)

You know who when they did Evil dead II, That they remade all of the first movie to be played during the opening credits because it was just that uneventful? Green Lantern had about 10 to maybe 15 minutes of worthwhile story before they brang out the beef.

No beef.

 

[Gepard]

Not really.

Critical and box office consensus says otherwise, Mr. Champion of Populism.

 

[Admiral_Young]

If box office was always right the half the films that have earned oscars over the last few years wouldn't get those Oscars. That doesn't mean the films are good. It means a lot of people are seeing them because they're fans of said film or franchise or whatever.

On the subject of a sequel...until Warner Bros/DC Ent comes out and says their sequel plans are canceled I'm still going on the basis that there is going to be a sequel.

 

[Gaith]

You know who when they did Evil dead II, That they remade all of the first movie to be played during the opening credits because it was just that uneventful? Green Lantern had about 10 to maybe 15 minutes of worthwhile story before they brang out the beef.

No beef.

Or even LaBeef.

 

[davejames]

The first half of transformers was way better than Green Lantern... But once the agenda became clear, that the Decepticons wanted a slave force of 6 billion humans i had to scratch my head. Given their technology, humans would only slow down any tech or project they had a thousand fold.

Seriously?? The first half with the nonstop parade of awful jokes, lame office humor, annoying little robots, and vapid relationship crap was better than Green Lantern?

I just... do not understand my fellow scifi fans sometimes. I frankly can't think of ANYTHING in GL that was as bad as some of the stuff in Transformers 3.

 

[Professor Zoom]

If box office was always right the half the films that have earned oscars over the last few years wouldn't get those Oscars. That doesn't mean the films are good. It means a lot of people are seeing them because they're fans of said film or franchise or whatever.

On the subject of a sequel...until Warner Bros/DC Ent comes out and says their sequel plans are canceled I'm still going on the basis that there is going to be a sequel.

They won't come out and say anything... they will just quietly move on.

 

[od0_ital]

Some day, ten years from now, some scifi geek is gonna pull the Green Lantern blu ray out of the five dollar bin at Wal-Mart, turn to his gamer buddy & ask, "Hey, wasn't there supposed to be a sequel to this?"

 

[Agenda]

The sequel commitment for this is even more halfhearted than what DC gave to Superman Returns.

It's never going to happen.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I think by then the kid is going to say something "Hey, who's this? Blanket Jackson is Green Lantern."

 

[Captain Craig]

Some day, ten years from now, some scifi geek is gonna pull the Green Lantern blu ray out of the five dollar bin at Wal-Mart, turn to his gamer buddy & ask, "Hey, wasn't there supposed to be a sequel to this?"

Ten Years?!
You can already find Superman Returns in the $5 bin.
It'll be sooner than that.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Some day, ten years from now, some scifi geek is gonna pull the Green Lantern blu ray out of the five dollar bin at Wal-Mart, turn to his gamer buddy & ask, "Hey, wasn't there supposed to be a sequel to this?"

That will be IMPOSSIBLE. In ten years, blu-ray will be obsolete....

 

[od0_ital]

^

That's why it'd be in the five dollar bin!

Geez!