How it should have been like

[Lord]

So, Green Lantern was a bad movie, i would like to hear opinions for how it could have been better, and how the story should have ever been.

Should it have been about Hal Jordan? Should Hamond and Paralax have been the villains? I've heard many say it was way too similar to secret origin, i disagree as that story had some better moments than the film, and those moments should have been adapted.

Hal Jordan wasn't very likeable either, what should have changed? Or should have another Green Lantern been used intead?

 

[Octoberist]

They should have decided
on the tone and scope, and e concise with it.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I would have actually given some time to developing a relationship between Hal and Abin Sur. Maybe have him be captured alive (but dying) by the military, and have Hal (a soldier) break him out. Give them screen time, real exchanges. For starters.

Don't tell me Hal is worthy of being a Lantern. Show me.

 

[Lord]

So, anybody thinks there was hope for Hal Jordan? That he should have been the main character to begin with?

 

[The Sage]

Absolutely. He has a good story arc and if told well, it could've worked out.

 

[Lord]

What do you think that should have been done to make him more likeable? I remember reading Green Lantern: Secret Origin some time before the film and really liking it, i actually found the story superior to the film, and i also like Hal and Carol's relationship there more

 

[Micromind]

In Sectret Origins, Hal Jordan was the loser not Hector Hammond, Hector was a jerk and he Hal was thrown out of Air Force, Ferris Air and he was just misunderstood by everyone, in addition to that his father's accidental death seemed to interfere with his passion for flying.

In short Hal was the sympathetic character, not Hector, in the movie this was opposite (though they tried to make both sympathetic, but Hal was not as much.)

 

[Lord]

That's quite true, do you think that Hammond or Atrocitus could have worked as villains in the film or should it have been another one?

 

[Micromind]

Hammond should not have been the focus, instead an alien villain like Atrocitus or Kanjar Ro would have been a good choice, that would have shown Hal and Sinesto team up and thair relationship as a mentor and a student, which slowly progresses into rivalry.

I remember someone saying that in the second or third draft of the script, Hal's ring becomes is discharged and he cannot recharge it to become a GL, and then he has to face Hector Hammond who has the telekinetic abilities and then a powerless Hal uses his will power alone to defect him without the aid of the power ring, now that would have been good.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

In Sectret Origins, Hal Jordan was the loser not Hector Hammond, Hector was a jerk and he Hal was thrown out of Air Force, Ferris Air and he was just misunderstood by everyone, in addition to that his father's accidental death seemed to interfere with his passion for flying.

In short Hal was the sympathetic character, not Hector, in the movie this was opposite (though they tried to make both sympathetic, but Hal was not as much.)

Hal simply wasnt sympathetic no were near enough. At the start of the movie the guy has almost a perfect life, good job, cool car, waking up to a beautiful blonde in the morning, and judging from what we saw didnt have any money worries, yet is constantly moaning and moping. This isnt going to garner sympathy with the average joe on the street who has money worries, kids, etc depending on their age.

 

[The Guard]

I don't think he neccessarily needs to be sympathetic. You're not supposed to think he's got a hard life, you're supposed to think he's kind of a cool guy.

In general, including the comics, you're supposed to sympathize with the fact that his flaws have led him to be something of a screwup, the fears he experiences, the doubts he has about himself, and the love he has for his friends and family.

 

[CLARKY]

So, Green Lantern was a bad movie, i would like to hear opinions for how it could have been better, and how the story should have ever been.

Man, since you begin with "it was a bad movie", are you ready to hear anyone opinion? The movie was not "bad", at all. Not excellent, not very good, not organised or just not to your taste, yeah maybe. Surely.
I thought it was different and original, but it seems that this era of time is dedicated only to realistic movies, or deconstructed heroes ala Marvel or Dark Knight.
But in order to answer more precisely to what you are implying, I would say for example that there were too many character, and I keep thinking Hector Hammond was useless. Completely useless, and it changed the scope of the movie from "galactic story" to "buffy-roswell-smallville-series cheap bad guy". Focus more on Parallax and the Corps would have been better.

They should have decided on the tone and scope, and be concise with it.

It is a very accurate opinion. I think most ofthe "problems" come from this precise reason and that what bugged me the most. The equilibrium between allthe elements was bad andgave most of the elements not enough consistency or over-exposure. For the next movie, they have to decide of a direction and a tone, and a scope, and just go with it!

 

[Cain]

The biggest problem to me was that they should've just focused on Sinestro training Hal. You could keep it mostly on Earth that way for budget reasons like they did and still be a lot more effective. It's the one thing they really should've downright robbed from Secret Origin. Another Training Day type of thing but even better than First Flight.

 

[Cain]

Hammond should not have been the focus, instead an alien villain like Atrocitus or Kanjar Ro would have been a good choice

Could've pulled another element from SO and throw pre-villain William Hand in there with him too. Or if they really had to go with an earth based villain I would've rathered Black Hand as a criminal already. Though I will say Sarsgaard actually ended up being one of the best things in the movie. He seemed to be having a blast. I think Parrallax came across much lamer than Hector did actually.

 

[Cain]

The movie was not "bad", at all.

Yeah objectively speaking it actually had competent direction, the action was well staged, good performances from Reynolds (yes I said it), Sarsgaard and Strong who did the best they could with what was there and great production design.

However it also had **** editing, a lame score, underdeveloped plot threads which the bad editing did not help at all and some bad performances from some supporting players like Robbins and Bassett who are not bad actors by any stretch; though I think Lively was passable. Not the best but not outright terrible.

It wasn't a bad movie but just a mediocre one which actually makes it worse. So much potential for a great emotional superhero movie there. In the end it had no heart and nothing in the movie felt earned just forced. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd rate it a 5 or if I'm more generous an above average score of 6. The thing is that a GL movie has no business being just average. It should be way more than that. At least an 8/10 or above.

 

[Octoberist]

Call me crazy but I would rather have an ambitious failure than an average, okay movie. At least the failure resonates with you. Of course for the wrong reasons but usually an okay movie ends up being forgotten by the time the credits hits.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^Well thats what I found the movie, the EE at least just okay, something I will watch every now and again. Its frustrating as watching the movie you can clearly see a good movie in there somewere, but some artistic choices just made the movie average.

 

[The Morningstar]

It should have been like Training Day, in space. And Parralax should have been like a Lovecraftian monster, as it got closer to Earth people should have started going crazy with fear on a subconscious level. Show world wide panic etc.

 

[The Morningstar]

And yes it was objectively bad. It was not original (don't make me laugh). It was a mish mash of cliches taken from all over the genre. GL is a unique concept, but amazingly, the movie is derivative as hell in terms of structure and the leads arc. Which isn't a problem, because pretty much everything is derivative these days. But it needs to be executed well. Unfortunately, GL wasn't. This is undeniable.

And no, the action scenes were not well shot. The final fight for instance. How do they go from fighting near Earth, to the Sun in about 30 seconds? Even if they were going at FTL it would take 8 minutes. But it seemed like one continuous fight, no leaps in time. Poorly edited. The first fight against Hammond was laughable and the ending to it was completely nonsensical. The first use of Hal's powers where he probably kills a guy by slamming into a brick wall with so much force it collapses? The ****ing Hot Wheels track? Get the **** outta here. The training scene? Massively wasted opportunity and typifies the thinking behind the film. Rushed, no gravitas.

GL can't even be watched as a brainless action movie, because the action is uninspired and blandly shot, with terrible editing and stupid plot points.

 

[elgaz]

I liked Green Lantern in places. Didn't love it - it has serious flaws. But I don't think it's the POS that some people do.

Still, here's what I would have changed in order to improve the film :

- Overcoming 'fear' was a very obvious story arc, but they really, really overstated it at times. Fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear. The audience isn't that stupid. Tone it down a bit.
- Hal's constant self-doubt and 'quitting' being a GL. Overstated again. And he didn't really 'quit' anyway, he just didn't put on the ring at that time. Stronger characterisation and consistency is needed - he's cocky and confident most of the time, so it didn't make sense that he suddenly became a quitter.
- Get rid of Hector Hammond. I don't think he added anything at all to the storyline other than serve as filler until Parallax arrived. He could have been saved for a sequel (or use Hammond, and save Parallax for a sequel) with his powers explored a bit more
- Improve the writing. Some of the dialogue was just plain sloppy. "I know, Right?!" has become an internet meme for crying out loud.
- Most of the actors were well cast, but I thought Tim Robbins was woefully miscast as Hammond's father. Asides from the grey hair, the two look about the same age.
- CGi needed some improvement. It just looked too cartoonish in places. Whoever is doing the Hulk in The Avengers should be given lots of $$$ and told to take good care of GL
- Parallax should have been personified more. I would have thought after seeing Galactus and Darkseid reduced to 'big nasty, dark cloud' form in other medium, filmmakers would have learnt that an evil cloud chasing our hero is not really exciting, interesting or scary.
- More epic space travel/battle needed. The final battle went from Earth to Sun in seconds, as stated above. Virtually nothing but empty space in between. Why not have a chase through one of Saturn's rings? Or a battle on one of Mars' moons? They could have made it much more varied and exciting.

There's more, but I can't think of it right now.

 

[Mr.?]

I don't know much about Green Lantern as I do other comic characters but I just watched the movie last night again and thought of what could make it better. So here's how I would have done the story:

-Hector and his storyline should be taken out of the movie as I feel they are the weakest parts of it.

-I'de keep all the stuff from the beginning to where Hal gets the ring. After he says the oath have the suit materialize on Hal as he gets transported to the Green Lantern Corps. planet. There he learns his powers and gets trained for a good portion of the movie. The Corps. locates Parallax on a planet that is already under attack by him. Sinestro sends himself, Kilwog, and other members of the Corps. to the planet. Hal wants to go with them because he feels he should help and plus he's close with Kilwog after being trained by him. Kilwog says it would be a good opportunity for Hal to use his training.

-They go to the planet under attack and get badly beaten by Parallax. Sinestro, Kilwog, and Hal are the only survivors. Hal leaves the Green Lanterns because he feels he's in over his head (Afraid). He goes back home and decides to surprise Carol at her birthday party, or whatever that scene was with her. He goes there and they talk, she mentions how she hasnt seen him in weeks adn asks him wheres he's been. He brushes it off and we get a lovey dovey scene. Now the scene with the helicopter, leave that in but instead have Carol aboard it. Hal later on goes and visits her as the Green Lantern and the same scene would happen. He says he quit the Corps. because he was afraid. She tells him the spiel about it being OK to be afraid. Meanwhile Sinestro convinces the Guardians to forge the yellow ring because he feels its the only way to kill Parallax who is currently on a nearby planet ready to strike the Corps.

-Hal rejoins the Green Lanterns and leaves Carol to go help them. He arrives and finds out about the yellow ring and he gives the same speech to the Guardians and Sinestro he did in the movie. They tell Hal they have no alternative, Parallax is on his way to destroy the Corps and this is the only way to defeat him. They say how Kilwog sent out the warning on a nearby planet and they need this ring to go save themselves. Hal says he can save them without the aid of fear and leaves the planet to go meet Kilwog. Hal arrives on the planet and saves Kilwog from Parallax at the last second.

-Hal and Parallax fight, Parallax mocks Hal saying he senses his fear and it will only be a matter of time before he destroys The Lanterns and Earth. Hal overcomes his fear and beats Parallax. Hal and Kilwog go back to the Corps. together. Everybody praises Hal for not giving in, The End.

Basically, there should be alot less time on earth and more time in space. The stuff in space and with the Lanterns would be focused on more if I could change it.

 

[Rockstar]

Would have preferred Hal and Sinestro to look like this

 

[Octoberist]

In the defense of Sinestro, I think he looked good in Green Lantern (the film). On the other hand, yes, I wish Hal's outfit looked more like the First Flight outfit. and an other costume.

 

[Octoberist]

I liked Green Lantern in places. Didn't love it - it has serious flaws. But I don't think it's the POS that some people do.

Still, here's what I would have changed in order to improve the film :

- Overcoming 'fear' was a very obvious story arc, but they really, really overstated it at times. Fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear. The audience isn't that stupid. Tone it down a bit.
- Hal's constant self-doubt and 'quitting' being a GL. Overstated again. And he didn't really 'quit' anyway, he just didn't put on the ring at that time. Stronger characterisation and consistency is needed - he's cocky and confident most of the time, so it didn't make sense that he suddenly became a quitter.
- Get rid of Hector Hammond. I don't think he added anything at all to the storyline other than serve as filler until Parallax arrived. He could have been saved for a sequel (or use Hammond, and save Parallax for a sequel) with his powers explored a bit more
- Improve the writing. Some of the dialogue was just plain sloppy. "I know, Right?!" has become an internet meme for crying out loud.
- Most of the actors were well cast, but I thought Tim Robbins was woefully miscast as Hammond's father. Asides from the grey hair, the two look about the same age.
- CGi needed some improvement. It just looked too cartoonish in places. Whoever is doing the Hulk in The Avengers should be given lots of $$$ and told to take good care of GL
- Parallax should have been personified more. I would have thought after seeing Galactus and Darkseid reduced to 'big nasty, dark cloud' form in other medium, filmmakers would have learnt that an evil cloud chasing our hero is not really exciting, interesting or scary.
- More epic space travel/battle needed. The final battle went from Earth to Sun in seconds, as stated above. Virtually nothing but empty space in between. Why not have a chase through one of Saturn's rings? Or a battle on one of Mars' moons? They could have made it much more varied and exciting.

There's more, but I can't think of it right now.

Yeah, I think the script needed to be more subtle especially with the element of fear. Also, self-doubt isn't a bad theme; it's timeless but you don't want the main character to come off as spineless and totally indecisive either. You can't make him appear stupid since self-doubt is a human characteristic; everyone goes through it and a good writer should know that. That's why the script needed more polish.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

The movie should've focused on the relationship between Hal and Sinestro. The mentor/trainee thing, they fight some threat, probably Articious, since he's interesting visually, powerful, but not too powerful. Hal seems fearful of how far Sinestro will go, then finds out that Sinestro's sector is so peaceful only because he rules it with an iron fist, maybe Articious tells him to check as a way to get inside Hal's head. It ends with Sinestro being kicked out of the Corps. Setting him up as the villian of the second movie. I just think a good Lantern movie needs to focus on these two characters, their relationship is the most important part.