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

[davejames]

If they needed to show Green Lantern overcoming his fear, then they should have used Kyle Rayner. Hal Jordan has always been pretty much fearless (to the point of being stupid sometimes.) But again, this brings me back to another problem I've always had with the character, and that is that Hal is the least interesting of the main lanterns. Green Lantern is not all that cool. Now, the Green Lantern Corps, that is AWESOME! That's what the movie should have been about.

Well I think they kind of HAD to use Hal, seeing as he is the most iconic and recognizable of the Green Lanterns.

And I thought casting Reynolds was a great way to actually make him seem somewhat cool and interesting for once. It's just a shame the movie had to go overboard with the angst and turn him into as big a pussy as it did.

 

[Captain Craig]

So don't look now, if GL makes $200 million...then makes another $75-100 million in DVD-Bluray sales...the sequel could happen...

RAMA

It's odds of hitting $200m worldwide have increased. It now sits at $193m but these are still low numbers, domestic and worldwide for such a tentpole film.

Films that make $75-100m on DVD are the ones that were huge hits at the box office, which GL wasn't.

A sequel at this point would be believed when casting begins but I'm not looking for that announcement anytime soon or later down the calendar.

Or movies skipped bu audiences in theaters who still want to see it at home.

RAMA

BU Audiences? What is B.U.?

If they needed to show Green Lantern overcoming his fear, then they should have used Kyle Rayner. Hal Jordan has always been pretty much fearless (to the point of being stupid sometimes.) But again, this brings me back to another problem I've always had with the character, and that is that Hal is the least interesting of the main lanterns. Green Lantern is not all that cool. Now, the Green Lantern Corps, that is AWESOME! That's what the movie should have been about.

Well I think they kind of HAD to use Hal, seeing as he is the most iconic and recognizable of the Green Lanterns.

Not true. Hal is only iconic to comic fans. He wasn't even that memorable on SuperFriends in the early 80's. As noted here on this board a number of times if your childhood was the 90's then John Stewart was the only/most recognizable Green Lantern. Thanks to Cartoon Network. If you then read comics due to that you saw Kyle Rayner. Those two were the most recognizable Green Lanterns.

The audience this film was aimed at, as most summer action films are, would be people who grew up '92-'02 and are in that 18-35 range. Their GL would NOT be Hal Jordan.

 

[the G-man]

The weakest actor in the film in my opinion was Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond, but then that just might be my own bias against the character.

I'm going to suggest it was the character not the actor, based on Sarsgaard's body of work.

 

[the G-man]

The audience this film was aimed at, as most summer action films are, would be people who grew up '92-'02 and are in that 18-35 range. Their GL would NOT be Hal Jordan.

Let's face it: If Will Smith had wanted to play GL this movie would have been about John Stewart. If Taylor Lautner had wanted to play GL it might have been Kyle. Otherwise, Hollywood was going with the white guy.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Or movies skipped bu audiences in theaters who still want to see it at home.

It's not really a movie that screams small screen though. So, I don't think that will make up a large percentage of DVD Blu Ray sales.

I think again...the movie suggested there is no such thing as NO FEAR, even the GL corps when faced with Parallax showed fear and died to feed it. The best GLs control their fear and use it.

RAMA

Which I think was a good idea. Just handled VERY poorly. Hal had some sort of obscure fear of ... something. Failure? Not living up to Daddy's image? I don't know. I just couldn't get on board with Hal's journey, personally. (I still laugh quietly when I think of Daddy's death scene. So badly done.)

 

[DarKush]

The audience this film was aimed at, as most summer action films are, would be people who grew up '92-'02 and are in that 18-35 range. Their GL would NOT be Hal Jordan.

Let's face it: If Will Smith had wanted to play GL this movie would have been about John Stewart. If Taylor Lautner had wanted to play GL it might have been Kyle. Otherwise, Hollywood was going with the white guy.

I agree with the basic point that they were aiming to get a white guy to be Green Lantern. However, I've heard variations on the Will Smith argument before and who knows if he was approached to do this, if he knew who Green Lantern was, or John Stewart for that matter? It almost feels like some people are putting the onus on a guy like Smith instead of on the casting decisions of WB, which to some extent are cynically based on the idea that a black superhero won't sell to whites or non-blacks. It's a chicken or the egg kind of thing. You can say black heroes won't sell cinematically, but if you never put them out there how can you really be sure that's true or not?

Smith has disproved this already and so has Wesley Snipes. And speaking of Smith's Hancock (which I didn't like), it did a whole lot better than GL. So even if he knew about GL, why would he necessarily want to do it? With Hancock he has nearly total freedom to develop that original character as he sees fit and is not weighed down by history or fan expectations. Maybe if DC/WB had courted him they might have got him for Stewart. But who really knows? But my belief is that Stewart was never really in their calculations for a solo feature. Especially with Geoff Johns in the mix. I've enjoyed his work on Hal, but he doesn't have much of a feel for Stewart IMO, and coupled with the predilection to go for a white hero because they are more 'bankable', Stewart's fate was pretty much sealed as soon as that Justice League movie idea was shelved. Though I wasn't too jazzed about the idea of Common being Stewart to be honest. He has the build, but his acting is too wooden. Then again, the way they write Stewart these days, maybe Common would be perfect.

I think both Marvel and DC have really sucked in terms of putting out a diverse slate of superheroes, including heroines. As they are burning through their rosters they can't keep ignoring them. In the 20 years of the boom, they've only tried their hand with Blade, Steel, a faux Catwoman, and Elektra as the main stars. I guess you can throw Whiteout in there as well (though I can't remember if that's Vertigo or not). There have been some diverse characters playing supporting roles, some significant roles, in many of the films, but it's not the same thing as being the main attraction.

 

[Gov Kodos]

I would have preferred John Stewart. Even more so had Will Smith played the part, though I'm sure there are quite a few other actors who also could have played the part.

 

[davejames]

Not true. Hal is only iconic to comic fans. He wasn't even that memorable on SuperFriends in the early 80's. As noted here on this board a number of times if your childhood was the 90's then John Stewart was the only/most recognizable Green Lantern. Thanks to Cartoon Network. If you then read comics due to that you saw Kyle Rayner. Those two were the most recognizable Green Lanterns.

Maybe, but I doubt most people really paid much attention to Justice League or JLU back then (or read the comics). And in any case, I just think if you're GOING to make a GL movie, you gotta at least start with Hal Jordan.

Which I think was a good idea. Just handled VERY poorly. Hal had some sort of obscure fear of ... something. Failure? Not living up to Daddy's image? I don't know. I just couldn't get on board with Hal's journey, personally. (I still laugh quietly when I think of Daddy's death scene. So badly done.)

I got the sense it was just a general trauma over having seen his dad die, like the PTSD that veterans get where they zone out and relive some horrible moment from a battle.

I thought that idea came across well enough; I just didn't buy a jock like Hal being as outwardly scared and fearful as he was through the course of the movie. It would have been a lot more interesting and believable if that were more underplayed, I think. And he kept trying to put up a brave front until finally admitting in the end that he's afraid.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

But that's almost the complete opposite of Hal's character in the comics. His father's death was traumatic, yes, but it was also inspirational to him. He became determined to be the best man he could be, and to follow in his father's footsteps, even to the detriment of his relationship with his family. He wasn't hiding his emotional baggage, he embraced it. He's the kind of person who, after being possessed by an alien entity of fear, murdering countless people, and almost ending the universe, was completely at peace with himself almost immediately.

 

[JoeZhang]

yes, but it was also inspirational to him. He became determined to be the best man he could be, and to follow in his father's footsteps, even to the detriment of his relationship with his family. He wasn't hiding his emotional baggage, he embraced it.

Huh? Is that new, the last origins of his I read he was a lush who almost got fired from his job and got put in prison for DUI.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Denzel Washington over Will Smith for John Stewart.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

But that's almost the complete opposite of Hal's character in the comics. His father's death was traumatic, yes, but it was also inspirational to him. He became determined to be the best man he could be, and to follow in his father's footsteps, even to the detriment of his relationship with his family. He wasn't hiding his emotional baggage, he embraced it.

Not as Geoff Johns tells his origin. It was something that he worked through; his tendency, as he admitted to his youngest brother, was never to be there for anyone and to harbor deep resentment against Carol's father.

Johns has also pretty thoroughly dumped the "without fear" anger in favor of "you have the ability to overcome great fear," another improvement.

 

[timothy]

collin ferrel for guy gardner and I can see denzel as john no problem there but kyle lets go with an unkown.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Don't care that much who plays the backup GLs at this point.

 

[davejames]

But that's almost the complete opposite of Hal's character in the comics.

Yeah, but the comic Hal is also stiff and boring and hard to relate to. The movie had to do something to change that.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

But that's almost the complete opposite of Hal's character in the comics. His father's death was traumatic, yes, but it was also inspirational to him. He became determined to be the best man he could be, and to follow in his father's footsteps, even to the detriment of his relationship with his family. He wasn't hiding his emotional baggage, he embraced it.

Not as Geoff Johns tells his origin. It was something that he worked through; his tendency, as he admitted to his youngest brother, was never to be there for anyone and to harbor deep resentment against Carol's father.

Johns has also pretty thoroughly dumped the "without fear" anger in favor of "you have the ability to overcome great fear," another improvement.

Yeah, but none of that is fear based, so much as anger. Anger at his mother for forbidding him to follow his dreams, and at the loss of his relationship to his family for following them anyways, and anger at Carol's father for what he perceived to his fault. The Hal Jordan of the comics would never spaz out in the middle of a flight, even if things went south.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Yeah, but none of that is fear based, so much as anger. Anger at his mother for forbidding him to follow his dreams, and anger at Carol's father for what he perceived to his fault.

Anger is based in primitive fear; the close association is survival-oriented.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

But avarice separates them on the spectrum

 

[Greylock Crescent]

And execution separates the GL film from the GL concept.

 

[Admiral_Young]

The DVD and Blu-Ray is coming out October 14. From the cinemablend article the DVD has a disappointing amount of special features (no audio commentary, a couple of featurettes, and a Green Lantern Animated Series preview).

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Gree...-Come-In-3D-Extras-Fail-To-Impress-26425.html