Green Lantern review; flickers more than glows

It's the Golden Age of comic book films, and it was only a matter of time before a Green Lantern film was to be made.  Quick breakdown: Hal Jordan is a Green Lantern, an intergalactic space cop who is in charge of patrolling multiple planets.  He is chosen after one of greatest Green Lanters to ever live, Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison), crash lands on Earth.  By wearing the Green Lantern ring, you can make your thoughts into reality (including an automatic machine gun).  Jordan is now a member of the Green Lantern Corp made up of 3600 Green Lanterns; Oa is where they call home.

I remember the news coming out about the 'terrific' script, to the casting showdown between Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper to the hiring of director Martin Campbell.  Who better to start up a new franchise than Campbell, he successfully did so for James Bond in the great Casino Royale.  A GL film should have been a piece of cake, not so much.  Let me begin my likes and dislikes. 

What I liked about the film:
Ryan Reynolds

I'm a fan of the man's work, and have been since his sitcom, "Two Guys and a Girl".  Reynolds has had a leading man charisma since the beginning, so it shouldn't have been too difficult a choice for Warner Brothers when it came time to cast the hero.  Reynolds did well creating the character.  Hal Jordan is the fighter pilot that does well to pretend he's fearless, but in reality, battles his inner fear throughout the film.  His comedic timing is as good as ever and so are his abs (which are glorified throughout the movie).  If the movie does indeed become a franchise, he will be great in the next GL tale.

Oa / Eye Candy
Warner Brothers spent millions and millions of dollars on the CG, and I could tell.  They even had last minute touch ups that really enhanced the film.  Perhaps the best part of the movie is seeing how Hal Jordan and the other Green Lanterns turn their thoughts into reality.  Everything from machine guns to swords to catapults; it shows you how CGI has made it possible to make movies of this size and scope.

The planet of Oa looks incredible in the film.  It is completely computer generated and really is eye candy.  The way Green Lantern's suit illuminates, the way he flies, etc. are magnificent.  The supporting characters such as Tomar Re (voiced by Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush) and Kilowag (voiced by Oscar nominee Michael Clarke Duncan) look great.  They are true to the comics and look as real as possible.  Money well spent Warner Brothers.

The Supporting Cast

This includes the aforementioned Rush and Duncan.  But those are voice actors, what about the live actors?  Blake Lively is good in this film.  I am not a fan of the actress at all, and enjoyed her turn as Hal Jordan's oldest friend/love interest.  The primary villain is Hector Hammond, played by Peter Sarsgaard, and he does a great job being as spooky as possible.  Hammond's father is a senator, played by Tim Robbins.  Angela Bassett rounds out the primary cast of characters as a doctor in charge of testing Abin Sur's body.  Robbins and Bassett don't have much to do in the film but could if there is a sequel.

I must point out Mark Strong.  He was THE PERFECT choice for the role of Sinestro, one of the leaders in the Green Lantern Corp.  Strong's performance is something to behold as he keeps us guessing which side he will end up on.  He challenges Hal Jordan and is able to intimidate without yelling, just simply being stern.  Great job.

What I didn't like about the film:
The Script / Story
Remember that 'terrific' script I was talking about?  Yeah, it must not have translated then.  The movie suffers beyond believe due to the script.  The second act is abysmal, there is no other way to describe it.  There is a whole lot of nothing going on for a good 45 minutes before an impressive action sequence hits.  In this second act, the hero is supposed to have some sort of self-discovery that never really formulates.  I was asking myself, "why did they keep this in the final cut?"

Besides the second act, the movie is so unorganized, and it wasn't due to editing.  We're on Earth, then Oa, then Earth, but back to Oa, then he quits, back to Earth, then he un-quits, back to Oa.  What the hell?  I hate when this happens in film.  Campbell should have cleaned up the story and screenplay so there is a smoother flow to the storytelling.  Again, the narrative is so weak, the main character ultimately never live up to their full potential.

The Supporting Cast
I know, I know.  How can the supporting cast be an aspect of the movie I liked AND disliked?  Well, because they're barely in the movie!  Ryan Reynolds must have been in 95% of the film.  Those amazing special effects featuring fully CG characters are barely on display for more than a few minutes at at time.  I wanted so much more.  What makes Green Lantern such a unique superhero is that he is a part of a team, the Green Lantern Corp.  He doesn't fight alone like Superman and Batman.  There is NO teamwork on this film whatsoever, it's all about Ryan Reynolds sporting the suit and nothing more.

The Lack Of A Real Villain

I really like Peter Sarsgaard, I do, but Hector Hammond is just not going to cut it!  He's a spooky science teacher that can read your thoughts and throw projectiles at you.  He's no Two-Face, and definitely no Joker!  Then there is Parallax, the worst possible choice for the first film in the franchise.  It is basically a cloud that eats up the souls of people who possess fear.  Remember when Fox tried this with the Fantastic Four sequel?  IT DOES NOT WORK!  Seeing hundreds of extras run through the streets is not what's scary.  Seeing the Joker threaten to cut someone's cheek off was ten times as affective and didn't require millions of dollars in CGI work. 


The Verdict:
Unfortunately, Pass (until the blu-ray)

I have to be honest, the first few minutes after leaving the theater, I think I convinced myself it was a better film than it really was.  After discussing it with my cousin Robert in more detail, I began to find more and more things that irked me about the film.  I think Campbell had a lot to do with the poor outcome of the film.  He is a very capable director, but just did not come through on this one.  Reynolds will be fine, as well as the rest of the cast, but I doubt Campbell is asked to return after the movie just opened to only $52 million dollars (on a $300 million dollar budget). 

I wish I could say it was the same caliber film as X-Men: First Class, but I can't.  Or even as good as Thor, but I can't.  All the pieces were in place: Ryan Reynolds, Martin Campbell, a cult following, etc.  But they just could not come together for the narrative.  If they're lucky to get another crack at it, let's hope they do a lot better next time. 

Good superhero movies in the Summer of 2011: 2
Bad superhero movies in the Summer of 2011: 1

Green Lantern 3D trailer... more amazing footage than before

Seriously, I... Can't... Wait for this movie!  Check out the final trailer below (that will be playing in 3D) and read my thoughts after.

I know I've made it plenty clear I want to see this movie, but can you blame me?  It's MILES ahead of the original trailer that scared us all.  The movie feels epic.  The size and scope of the film really come through in this trailer.  We also get to see Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) learning the powers of the ring.  We also see him creating some major machine power towards the end.  I'm going to be counting down the days until this movie is released.  Who's down for a midnight showing?

Abin Sur gets his own Green Lantern poster

I think the tone and scope of the Green Lantern film is becoming more and more clear with every trailer and poster.  Here we see the latest poster for Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison), the green lantern who crash lands on Earth and gives Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) his ring.  So far the Summer has been to my liking, I hope this movie lives up to my high expectations.  Can't wait!

Hector Hammond Green Lantern poster

Peter Sarsgaard plays Hector Hammond in the upcoming Green Lantern.  And now he has his own character poster.  I liked it and thought I would share.  He looks pretty creepy right?  Really can't wait for this movie!

Latest Green Lantern posters and trailer

Ryan Reynolds leads the Green Lantern Corp in this group poster

I've already posted the 4+ minutes of footage from the the upcoming Green Lantern.  That footage was amazing.  It did a lot to restore faith in the project after the so so trailer that premiered back in November of last year.  The special effects were tightened up, the comedy was scaled back in exchange for a more 'epic' approach.  This is the official trailer containing a lot of that footage, but there's more!

We finally get to see the voice actors attached to a few of the all CG (computer generated) characters.  Let's review.

Mark Strong will play Sinestro with some CG help

Michael Clarke Duncan will voice the massive Kilowog

Oscar Winner, Geoffry Rush will voice Tomar Re

Check out the trailer below and then read my thoughts after.

That's what I'm talkin' about!  The voice actors were perfectly cast!  I especially love Rush as Tomar Re.  Michael Clarke Duncan almost feels like the obvious choice.  But Rush, to me, is an inspiring choice.  I've never really commented on Mark Strong's Sinestro; I may be taking him for granted.  Strong has quickly become one of my favorite actors in Hollywood; especially following Kick-Ass and Sherlock Holmes.  He looks the part and for all the fans of the comic book, you know what's coming!

Overall, this is the perfect cut for the last trailer to Green Lantern.  I know the earliest clips had a lot of people nervous, but this should make everyone believe in Green!

Last but not least, the Gaurdians

A stand alone Justice League film is in the works... for 2013?!

It feels like a case of deja vu.  A few years ago, just before the writers strike in Hollywood, we were supposed to see a Justice League film.  Now, the writers are happy, superhero films have flourished, and Warner Brothers is promising a Justice League film by 2013.

Warner Brothers owns DC Comics and is the sole distributor of all of it's films, unlike Marvel comics.  Marvel is owned by Disney.  Before superhero movies were the huge money makers they are now, Marvel licensed out its movie rights to various studios (Fox got X-Men characters, Sony has Spider-Man, etc.).  Even with various studios distributing their films, Marvel has created a film universe where all of its characters co-exist, culminating in The Avengers film. 

So is Warner Brothers taking a page out of the Marvel handbook?  Nope.  They're going to make a completely separate franchise, independent of the individual characters' films.  So we will not see Christian Bale as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman in the Justice League.

I have to be honest, at first glance, this made me upset.  Maybe because I'm a fan of continuity and love to see the same actors portray the same characters in sequels and such.  But this makes a lot more sense.  Marvel shot themselves in the foot by making Iron Man 2 a prequel to The Avengers.  That movie suffered greatly because of continuity issues (and a new actor for War Machine).  So maybe it's not a bad idea after all to make it a separate franchise.

There are multiple comic books going at once, why not multiple stories in films at once.  Everyone online seems to differ on this point, but I like it.  Hopefully the same skill, patience and story telling will go into the Justice League that Christopher Nolan has put into the Batman films.  Only time will tell.  With Green Lantern coming out this summer, Superman: The Man of Steel late next year, and a Flash film in development, this may be a BETTER culmination than The Avengers.  Your thoughts?


The picture above is from DeviantArt artist: daikaiju.

4 minutes of Green Lantern and a new poster!

It's been a long time since the trailer for Green Lantern was released, and really very little talk has happened since.  And now this!  Four minutes worth of the movie!  This video comes via /Slashfilm.  Check out the footage and my comments...

Wow! Like wow.  Am I going out on a limb by saying this footage totally redeemed the trailer!?  I love it.  I got chills during the footage and am looking very forward to this... NOW anyway.  When the trailer was released, I was less than thrilled BUT still wanted to watch the film.  This footage has placed the movie on my must-see list.  How about you?  Can we believe star Ryan Reynolds when he says this will be an absolute space epic?

Henry Cavill's long journey to playing Superman

So yesterday the internet was a buzz with the news that British actor Henry Cavill was cast as the Man of Steel, Superman.  It turns out he has a pretty interesting story.  He was already cast as Superman before!  Check out this article from 2004 on MovieWeb.  He was cast when McG was set to direct.  That film (totally separate from Superman Returns) died out, and Bryan Singer took over the reigns.  Singer cast Brandon Routh and the rest was history.

THEN, Cavill was almost cast as Batman!  Turns out he was on Christopher Nolan's short list before ultimately casting Christian Bale.

THEN, Cavill was almost cast as James Bond, but lost the role to Daniel Craig.

THEN, Cavill was almost cast as Edward in the Twilight Saga.  That went to the douche bag of a generation, Robert Pattinson.

THEN, Cavill was almost cast as the Green Lantern, but lost the role to Ryan Reynolds.

Holy mother of wow this guy's been through a lot.  I mean those are four bonafide franchises the man lost out on.  I almost feel bad being so disappointed in the casting, but I don't.  I knew they wanted a relative unknown, so I can't say I was TOTALLY surprised by Cavill's casting.  I wanted someone who was more famous, but then I read an article in the LA Times. 

The article shares an obvious point... now Superman, Batman (Christian Bale, Welsh), Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield, UK), will all be played by British actors.  Not counting Thor (Chris Hemsworth, Australian), and Green Lantern (Ryan Reynolds, Canadian).  The article makes valid points as to why Directors cast the actors they do.  Also, it looks at why the "charismatic" American actors, don't always do well, ala George Clooney's Batman.  It's an interesting article, check it out.  For now, I still don't like Cavill's casting and can only hope Producer Nolan and director Zack Snyder make me eat my words.

"Green Lantern" World Premier Trailer!

The footage gives away the basic plot, but leaves much to the imagination. Blake Lively's pretty face is thrown in the mix and we get to see Mark Strong and Peter Sarsgaard as well. It has a unique style, similar to Iron Man if I had to choose one to compare it to. I doubt this will be "dark" as other comic book adaptations have been. And it shouldn't be. The Green Lantern character has dark days, but overall, Hal Jordan (human name) is a fun loving jokester. Ryan Reynolds will do well, deeeeeep down inside I'm still curious what Bradley Cooper would have looked like donning the cgi suit. Overall, the trailer did for me what its supposed to do, get me to want to watch the movie. You?

Quickie: "Green Lantern" Site Launches

Every post today seems to be superhero related, including this one. It's the talk of Twitter, check out the new website for the Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds. Click the image above to see the not-so-thrilling site. Or click here.

Green Lantern vs. Deadpool, Who's Going to Win?

This is not good news. Or is it news at all? The creator of the Deadpool comic is Rob Liefeld. He's Tweeting away some nonsense, at least I think it is anyway. He's accusing Warner Brothers of taking the star of Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds, away from the project. He's Tweeting that WB wants to film the Green Lantern sequel immediately, even though the first film JUST WRAPPED!

Is it me, or does this feel like an episode of Entourage? WB wanted "Vinnie Chase" to film the sequel to Aquaman, rather than filming another movie. Wow, the similarities are really interesting.
I doubt WB is going to take Reynolds away from the Deadpool movie. First of all, unless it was planned, there's no way a trilogy will be filmed on a whim like this. The writers were just hired to write the sequel.

Second, Reynolds was already committed to both Deadpool AND another film to follow the filming of Green Lantern. That's not to mention the news today about R.I.P.D. He would not cancel two, potentially three, movies to film a Green Lantern sequel.

Third, and most importantly, Reynolds has a say! The man is one of the most sought after actors in Hollywood. He can carry a franchise, or two or three; you think he's going to give up possibly 100 million dollars because WB says so? No! He campaigned for the role of Deadpool and it's an important project to him. Check out the video below to see his knowledge and passion for the character. The Deadpool movie/franchise WILL happen, with Reynolds dawning the mask, period. It was a story that really wasn't. Rob Liefeld needs to relax and cool it on the Tweets.

New Finished Look at "Green Lantern's" Character: Kilowog

The movie doesn't come out until June 17th, 2011, but the photos are starting to surface every week. First was the Entertainment Weekly cover of Ryan Reynolds wearing the suit. Then more pictures from inside the magazine were released later the same day. Now comes the picture of Green Lantern's big buddy, Kilowog. He's by far the most visually different character in the Green Lantern universe and this picture will show you what we mean. Hit the jump for the photo.

Character of Kilowog from the Warner Bros. film, Green Lantern

Picture from Latinoreview via Comicbookmovies.

More "Green Lantern" Pictures from Entertainment Weekly

/Slashfilm has all six new photos, these are the only two I was really interested in. All the photos come courtesy of the next issue of Entertainment Weekly. The picture above shows our main character, Hal Jordan with his Green Lantern Corp. ring. The picture below show's Hal Jordan again, played by Ryan Reynolds along with the character of Carol Ferris, played by the lovely Blake Lively. I STILL don't think she's a good actress by the way. Just had to throw that in for good measure.

The other pics show some of the co-stars of the film (Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, etc.). It's exciting to see these characters come to life. But like I said this morning, I'm so disappointed in the costume. It looks off for some reason, and the mask doesn't compliment the rest at of the costume at all. I know it was necessary to make the suit CGI because of the shape-shifting, but I don't like it so far. I hope I'm proven wrong!

First Picture of Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern Released

I've literally been looking forward to the image above for months, only to be let down. Now I know this is just ONE picture of the future superhero film, but still. Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern, in his CGI suit. I still look forward to footage and eventually watching the movie next year. I just didn't expect the suit to look like this.

Big name director for the Deadpool movie, guess who?

There's news today about a Deadpool director? Who may you ask? Robert Rodriguez! Director of some awesome stuff, like Desperado and Sin City. The movie was on the fast track after X-Men Origins: Wolverine featured the Deadpool character. Ryan Reynolds signed on to reprise his role as a spin-off feature. Then a road bump... he got cast as another superhero! Reynolds signed on to Warner Brothers' Green Lantern.

There was talk that Reynolds may have backed out of the Deadpool project, but that hasn't happened. It was reported by the guys at /slashfilm that Reynolds is indeed involved and the offer is out to Rodriguez to direct.


As long as Rodriguez takes a comedy-action approach to the movie, I'm totally OK with this decision by Fox. But if he tries to pull a Gavin Hood, and make the movie too serious for its own good, "somebody gonna get a hurt real bad". Hood made 'Wolverine' way too damn serious for its own good. And the fact that the Deadpool character is in fact a comedic one, let's hope Rodriguez takes a lighter approach. Till then, we'll keep ya posted.

The image at the top of the post is by DeviantArt contributor Will, screen name deusxmachina.

Green Lantern writer hired for Green Lantern 2 and The Flash?

I was reading this at /Slashfilm and really didn't know what to think. Sooo, Warner Brothers is loving Green Lantern (1), so much, they're starting part 2? Wowzers. I am impressed. WB hired Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, and Marc Guggenheim to start writing Green Lanter 2 as well as The Flash.

So we knew that WB was green lighting superhero movies left and right. We knew that. But we didn't know it was going to happen so fast. I've told you my thoughts on the superhero movies WB has lined up. I've also told you who I think should play these characters, now it's up to the studio to cast them correctly! Let the writing begin!

Who should star in all these new Superhero movies?

Yesterday I posted news of Wonder Woman, The Flash and Aquaman coming to life. I'm really excited about this. Ever since I was a kid, I remember having ideas in my head of what the superheros would look like in live-action adaptations. If you have ever read this blog, you will see the passion I have for superhero movies. So, what actors should take these roles? I'll tell ya!

This post is completely for fun, I have no say in any of this, but It's fun to use your imagination to match actors to superheros. Heck, one time I was right on the money. So let's go in order and discuss casting.

First, Green Lantern is already set, they're currently in production. Ryan Reynolds was not the person I wanted. It came down to Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper; I was rooting for Cooper. Don't get me wrong, I love Ryan Reynolds in almost anything he does, but to me, Cooper was a better choice; especially coming off the success of The Hangover. Cooper was funny and witty in that film, something that would have to shine through for the character of Hal Jordan (Green Lantern).

OK, here's a biggie, Wonder Woman is a great character. There is no way to win this argument, but I'm looking at looks, build, and acting ability. She needs to be cast perfectly, you ready?... Kate Beckinsale. Now, I'm not the first person by any means to suggest this, but she would be perfect! She can act (The Aviator) and she can kick butt (Underworld). Look at these pictures of Beckinsale actually dressed as Wonder Woman for Halloween, classic! She deserves an online petition or something.

Next is The Flash, a character I really don't care for; with proper casting, Warner Brothers could quickly change my mind. So what do we know about The Flash? He's fast, obviously, but he's a smart character as well. Who has the physique and brains to play the character?... Ryan Gosling. I've been a fan of his since Murder by Numbers, and LOVED Fracture. He has what it takes.

And last but not least is Aquaman. More than any other character, I want to see Aquaman come to the big screen. I've been talking about it for years now, my pick?... Paul Walker. Listen, Walker is not going to be winning any Oscars any time soon OK; he looks the part EXACTLY. I've read the comics since I was a kid and Walker is a spitting image of Arthur Curry (Aquaman). Walker was Into The Blue, he was basically Aquaman in that movie. He's my pick and I'm sticking to it.

Let me know what choices you agree or disagree with (the blog is Agree to Disagree after all). This is a fun time for this blogger, the golden age of comic cinema.

Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flah, Aquaman are all going to happen?!

Warner Brothers is tearing it up! I love it! The superhero genre is in full effect at Warner Brothers Studio. The guys at /Slashfilm has some great news to make this blogger a very happy camper. Let's dive right in.

So we already knew about the Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds. But what we didn't know was that there is an animated series set to begin after the live-action movie is released. The show will very obviously be called: "Green Lantern: The Animated Series" on Cartoon Network.

Next is news of two other superheros about to be greenlit for their own live-action films. I keep reading that Wonder Woman and The Flash are weeks about from a green light. I would love to see a Wonder Woman movie, hopefully with an actress that is both beautiful AND can act. I realize that is a tough combination when it comes to today's young actresses, but it's OK, I have hope.

As for The Flash, I could care less. If they make the movie I hope it's nothing more than a setup to a Justice League film.

And lastly there are rumors of an Aquaman film, I love it! I posted something about this a long time ago; but now it's starting to come back around. Nothing more than rumor right, but I WANT TO SEE AN AQUAMAN MOVIE!

Clash of the Titans Blu-Ray coming with a Green Lantern First-Look special feature

July 21... don't all of you go rushing to your local Best Buy at once. After the dismal 3D version shown in theaters, I bet Warner Brothers is looking forward to the 2D Blu-Ray release. And with that gem of a movie we're going to get a cool little extra; a Green Lantern first-look special feature. This will come just a few days before the San Diego Comic-Com which I'm sure Warner Brothers is going to debut a trailer, at the very least.

For us comic book nerds, this is a big deal, so I'm very excited, but the problem is I'll actually have to spend money on Clash of the Titans. Darn you Warner Brothers! Just kidding Warner Brothers, and if you have any job openings please let me know. Haha.

Now Mark Strong in talks for Sinestro?

Martin Campbell laid to rest the rumors about Jackie Earle Haley playing Sinestro, the villian in the upcoming Green Lantern film. Instead, he gave us a nice piece of information. Here's what he told MTV:

No, that’s completely wrong…In fact, we’re in negotiations with Mark Strong to play Sinestro…He’s not only a wonderful actor, but he looks like Sinestro. If you look up old pictures of Sinestro, he’s very like him. The Jackie Earle Haley thing, somebody told me about it this morning; I had never heard it before in my life.

Wowzers! That's some awesome news. I'm a big big fan of Mark Strong. I loved his work in the less than stellar Body of Lies. He also stole the show in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla.

Hopefully this is not just casting rumor, but fact pretty soon. We'll keep you posted on the Green Lantern updates, as they arrive.