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#1 Posted on 15.6.11 2201.35 Reposted on: 15.6.18 2203.10
Spoiler free!
Got to see Green Lantern tonight at an advance screening. Very good movie. It's not Iron Man, but it's every bit as good as Thor.
I had some of the same concerns going in with this as I had with Thor in that some of the scenes of the use of the Green Lantern powers looked a bit "cheesy" in the previews, but in the context of the movie itself, they look very natural (as they did with Thor). The 3D looked great and fit the CGI heavy theme of the movie.
Very good cast who played their parts well and I can't wait for the sequels we will hopefully get as there is definitely a scene that sets just that up halfway during the end credits. (You didn't have to stay to the bitter end to see it, but I did anyway just in case)
I'm sure I'll spot even more GLs I might recognize from the comics upon further viewings, but the only ones I recall getting actual voice time were Sinestro, Tomar-Re and Killowog. They did show a few more having a reaction to Hal showing up to the big GL pow-wow but I don't recall seeing The Green Man or Stel both of whom have action figures in the current GL movie line. It was all very quick so I'm sure someone with a more keen eye than myself will be able to spot a few more familiar "faces."
Recommended!
Edit: A friend of mine who also went to the showing and is not as much of a DC Comics cheerleader as myself was not as impressed with the movie. He thought it looked too much like a video game and we have agreed to disagree on whether or not it will do well enough to garner a sequel.
I'm just glad I got to see it before most of the negative stuff I'm seeing about it online was able to cloud my enthusiasm for it. I think if you like the comics, you'll like the movie.
#3 Posted on 18.6.11 0725.55 Reposted on: 18.6.18 0726.05
I'm a huge Green Lantern mark, so I loved it, but I can't really be objective about it. It had its flaws, but it was true to the character and seeing Hal (and Carol, Pieface, Abin Sur, Sinestro, Tomar-Re, and Hector) onscreen just made me mark out. And the Lovely Future Mrs. Hegemon, who had no familiarity with the characters at all (when we saw the trailer and I mentioned how cool it was to see Hector Hammond and Abin Sur, she thought they were actors) enjoyed it a lot, too.
The extra scene comes up pretty quickly, but, yeah, don't miss it.
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#5 Posted on 19.6.11 0857.37 Reposted on: 19.6.18 0858.38
I saw it yesterday and thought it was decent. Maybe a notch below Thor, which I liked quite a bit. It seemed they melded parts of Hal, Kyle, and Guy into the character, which is fine. I've never been a big GL fan, but I was never a big Iron Man and still thought the 1st IM movie is one of the 3 best superhero movies ever made. This one is nowhere near that level, but I still liked it. Call it a C+.
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#6 Posted on 19.6.11 1004.42 Reposted on: 19.6.18 1005.24
Originally posted by kentishI saw it yesterday and thought it was decent. Maybe a notch below Thor, which I liked quite a bit. Call it a C+.
This pretty much sums up what I thought, though I needed several thousand words in my review. I don't think Green Lantern was bad - there have been far, far worse superhero movies - but I also didn't think it was good. It was just... what it was. I could more easily forgive Green Lantern its flaws if I was entertained, but I wasn't. I didn't even find Green Lantern fun the way I really enjoyed Thor as entertainment.
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#8 Posted on 19.6.11 2300.33 Reposted on: 19.6.18 2300.41
That's a bummer (and for me as a GL fan). Looks like my friend who didn't like it might be right on it not getting a sequel, but maybe DVD sales will "save" it on the back end.
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#9 Posted on 19.6.11 2356.26 Reposted on: 19.6.18 2357.46
I thought it was pretty terrible, but not for the reasons I was expecting (Reynolds, Lively, and an abundance of CGI...I was fine with all that).
The story was a jumbled mess. I read elsewhere that this was not Martin Campbell's cut and Warner did a hackjob on it. I'm curious to see his version if it's true.
The Hammond/Hammond/Waller scenes made me want to tear my hair out. And did no one learn from Rise of the Silver Surfer that big clouds don't make compelling villains?
Sinestro was great and when Hal was in the suit doing GL stuff I had fun. If they make it to a sequel, that should be a good film.
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#10 Posted on 20.6.11 0840.54 Reposted on: 20.6.18 0841.25
I saw Green Lantern and oh man was it a mess.
Geoff Johns' GL run is one of the most perfect film trilogy templates I could imagine in comics: Act 1: Hal gets the ring, GLs & Oa are introduced, Hal beats a bit villain, Sinestro hints at turn Act 2: Sinestro turns in the first third, then a stripped down film version of Sinestro Corps War, with hints of other colored Corps shown Act 3: A stripped down film version of Blackest Night
Instead, the Green Lantern film spent way too much time on Earth, which is the most boring setting for a space cop to be in. Green Lantern has had a lot of success in the comics world recently because the story was largely taken off of Earth and put into space where this all-powerful (compared to Earthly villains) character can be tested in a believeable way. Green Lantern isn't like most other comic books that spawn films. It is a cosmic, sci-fi, space adventure. The film ignored that almost completely, and reduced it to just another superhero movie.
The overarching plot was totally backwards if they were intending this to launch a trilogy or even a decent sequel. No way should Hal have "beaten" Parallax in this film, much less by himself. They rushed to use Parallax as a main villain, when that idea would have been better used as a long-term background threat to be dealt with in a second film along with the Sinestro Corps. In doing that last bit they wasted an admittedly lame, but decent and fittingly small-time for an origin story villain in Hammond. Hammond as the main villain with Parallax lurking in the background and Sinestro showing signs of turning could have fleshed out the antagonist side and provided a great lead-in for a second film.
The Guardians made the yellow ring and then Sinestro put it on for no discernable reason. If Sinestro is planned to be the big villain of a second film, his origin was completely botched. If I didn't know what the yellow ring and Sinestro's costume chaged meant, I doubt I'd be excited in any fashion to see what happens next. There was so much potential for this story, and it seems insane to me that it was botched so badly.
Ryan Reynolds turned out to be a good choice. Not the best choice, but I think a lot of that was the writing rather than the actor. I don't know that he could have played the swaggering, uber-macho character that Hal Jordan should be, but for the portrayal in this film, he was good. John Orquiola's review gets into that point very well. Film-Hal displayed far too much fear, reluctance, and general pussiness than he should have. They tried to make that transformation the crux of his character, when Hal Jordan should always be the badass, unstoppable jet pilot who never thinks twice and goes balls to the wall all the time. The character points instead should come from a guy like that finding himself within a cosmic military where he has to take on responsibility and follow rules instead of doing whatever the hell he wants whenever he wants. That's why Hal Jordan was always an interesting character to me, and I'm sure the general public (particularly in the USA) could also latch onto a guy like that.
I liked the new background for Parallax and its general appearance, though it could have used a bit more yellow tinge to the smokiness to drive home the color theme. Oa, Sinestro, etc were all very good, though a few more minutes introducing some of the GLs who were featured in the advertising would have been nice. CGI was good, and the nature of the different characters' green constructs was fitting. I liked how they kept on referring to the mask as silly, because it really is outside of a comic book page. All of the background chaarcters were perfectly fine for a comic book movie, where nobody really gets any layered characterization except for the main players.
It was cool that this film was released and that some of Geoff Johns' awesome ideas are being shown to people who'd never read them. But the piss-poor plotting will probably lose most of those who don't already know the long-term story.
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#11 Posted on 20.6.11 1549.43 Reposted on: 20.6.18 1550.39
Two more things I just remembered:
-The premise that 34-year-old Ryan Reynolds, 23-year-old Blake Lively, and 40-year-old Peter Sarsgaard were all kids together was really hard to swallow.
-The sound design was really poor. The main ring sound effect was a Hanna-Barbera-esque "THOOP!" that was more comedic than awe-inspiring.
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#16 Posted on 25.6.11 2102.22 Reposted on: 25.6.18 2102.34
GL is not the horrible bomb that some critics are making it, but it is not on the same level as Thor and X-Men. A few reasons why:
-Audience have reached the level of how much CGI they will take. The scenes on OA are like Eddie Valient in Toontown (only not awesome). I realize you can't do GL's cosmic universe without special effects, but we really need to go back to using practical effects as much as possible. The perfect example is the T-Rex scene in Jurassic Park. It STILL holds up because they mixed CG with actual models and it blended together. Hal's training with Kilowag would have benefitted from this. The way it is, there is just no WEIGHT to a lot of what happens.
-Sarsgaard did a great job as Hector Hammond, but I feel the movie should have dropped the character. It suffers from the same lack of focus as most other mult-villain superhero movies.
-Did not like Hal beating Paralayx single-handedly AT ALL. He needed help in the comics, and that was a Hal Jordan who'd put in years of experience as a GL and The Spectre. I think it would have worked better by having Hal insist on being part of Sinestro's team and being the one to figure out overcoming the yellow weakness to help the team beat him.
-Enough killing off all the villains! It wipes out possible storylines for future movies. It would have made a LOT more sense to have Paralayx imprisoned in a yellow power battery at the end. Then you could've had Sinestro make a yellow ring "just in case".
-Not enough easter eggs! Carol's codename being Sapphire was a nice touch, but there was so much more they could've done. It would've been cool to have a scene of Abin's ring scanning for a new owner and picking up TWO potential candidates and picking Hal because he was closer.
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#17 Posted on 26.6.11 1551.54 Reposted on: 26.6.18 1552.25
Saw it, liked it. I disagree, I want more Easter Eggs. The family scene is going to be or should be a big factor for the now green lighted sequel with Sinestro. I am hoping the sequel will deal more with the Corps.
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#18 Posted on 26.6.11 1552.24 Reposted on: 26.6.18 1557.36
Despite a 65% plummet in box office in its second weekend, Warner Bros. announced it's moving forward with a sequel. Maybe they shouldn't have signed Kilowog to a three picture deal.
If there is a sequel, it will have to cost a lot less and guess what? That means more Earth, less OA. OA costs money. Ironically, more OA could actually = more money in tickets sold. Ironic.
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#20 Posted on 26.6.11 1611.27 Reposted on: 26.6.18 1612.27
Considering Sinestro Corp happened on Earth, I think thats where they are going. I would expect less aliens and more humans probably Kyle, Guy and John.