The Official Green Lantern Review Thread - Part 1

[The Morningstar]

I'd been depressed since I read the negative reviews. I thought it would get a little better after I watch it, but it only got worse. That's how much I love Green Lantern. And you know? If they managed to make the Earth scenes any interesting, I would have forgiven everything else, but it's really bad. I can't believe WB produced this. They spent that much, couldn't they hire better writers??

I mentioned that a while ago. Getting great writers is very important for a film like this.

But they hired a bunch of no name TV writers who have no real movie credits. And I imagine Geoff Johns had some input on the script too.

 

[Bubonic]

I'd been depressed since I read the negative reviews. I thought it would get a little better after I watch it, but it only got worse. That's how much I love Green Lantern. And you know? If they managed to make the Earth scenes any interesting, I would have forgiven everything else, but it's really bad. I can't believe WB produced this. They spent that much, couldn't they hire better writers??

It is so embarrassing! They have to answer for this. They have to rectify it somehow. They have to apologize to all the fans and take a step to produce a redeeming sequel!

Would you say the dialogue gets as bad as Ghost Rider or Punisher: War Zone?

On a list of DC and Marvel movies released in the last 11 years where does this rate if keeping it between purely popular hero movies and not the indie stuff.

 

[Marvin]

Star Saphire will save this Franchise.

 

[SolidRoar]

I'll go for 10 fresh, I just feel a mini wave of goodness coming before this movie takes a dip under 20%!



If it is just as good as Thor all the way around then I will be more than happy.

You know? For all the criticism that Thor fared from some, I enjoyed it to the point of watching it multiple times. With all of Thor's shortcomings, it was fantastically paced and it definitely had charm. That's coming from someone who is more of a DC fan. I really thought GL would have no problem outdoing the rest of this summer's movies, but it is exactly the opposite. Anything we liked from the scenes they showed us is pretty much it. Not much surprises - if any.

I'm telling you, if you are walking in expecting anything like Thor, then prepare to be disappointed. It's way out of league. You have to go with much lower expectations. I'm talking Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider and Jonah Hex. Just one week ago, I wouldn't have believed it myself. But WB actually managed to screw up Green Lantern! What a missed opportunity.

 

[The Morningstar]

The thing with Thor was that it was just a really likable movie. It was easy to overlook the flaws in the writing because the performances were great, the lead characters were fully formed and it was charming. The character moments, like Loki confronting Odin or Loki visiting Thor on Earth, were more memorable than the action scenes.

Seems GL fails at that. You need great characters in a film. Characters you can connect with, whether they are likable or not. Because if you don't have great characters... why would you care about the danger they are in? Why would you care about anything else in that world?

 

[SolidRoar]

I mentioned that a while ago. Getting great writers is very important for a film like this.

But they hired a bunch of no name TV writers who have no real movie credits. And I imagine Geoff Johns had some input on the script too.

You know? For some reason, I think they just stuck Geoff John's name in there to gain fans confidence.

Would you say the dialogue gets as bad as Ghost Rider or Punisher: War Zone?

On a list of DC and Marvel movies released in the last 11 years where does this rate if keeping it between purely popular hero movies and not the indie stuff.

I believe my previous post answers that. There were some nice bits and I actually laughed or at least smiled at some of the stuff, but it's not enough and it does nothing for the overall experience. Maybe if they got Hammond right as a villain, I might have cared more, I don't know. I just know that after the beginning of the movie, I started feeling underwhelmed, and it all went down hell from there.

 

[SolidRoar]

The thing with Thor was that it was just a really likable movie. It was easy to overlook the flaws in the writing because the performances were great, the lead characters were fully formed and it was charming. The character moments, like Loki confronting Odin or Loki visiting Thor on Earth, were more memorable than the action scenes.

Seems GL fails at that. You need great characters in a film. Characters you can connect with, whether they are likable or not. Because if you don't have great characters... why would you care about the danger they are in? Why would you care about anything else in that world?

I totally agree with you, but GL doesn't even nail the action! It fails on every level except the visuals - believe it or not!

 

[The Sage]

You know? For some reason, I think they just stuck Geoff John's name in there to gain fans confidence.

Apparently he was involved, had a hand in rewrites and even visited the sets. This is the movie in DCE under his tenure as Chief Creative Officer.

 

[J.Howlett]

That's interesting about your opinion with the action when I've read on plenty of reviews that the action isn't the problem and that it easily bests Thor in the action department....

 

[The Morningstar]

I think Geoff Johns involvement is part of the problem. Maybe he got too much say in what was going on?

 

[Bubonic]

That's too bad.
I'll pay 5 bucks to see it at the cheap theatre on Saturday, I've fortunately only seen the trailer once and none of the spots so I can still enjoy the visuals of this film.

If it stays above 20% by then.

 

[J.Howlett]

Morningstar,

Let's wait and pass judgement until you and the rest of us have seen it. To me, the consensus is all over the place for me to make a clear judgement on what this film is...

 

[The Sage]

I think Geoff Johns involvement is part of the problem. Maybe he got too much say in what was going on?

I haven't seen it yet, but it could've been a problem. Could be a case of what could happen if David Goyer was allowed to run loose without having Christopher Nolan to keep him in check.

Can't say for sure until I see it tomorrow.

 

[kguillou]

Its such a shame, WB put a TON of promotion into this movie. I see GL promos and merchandise everywhere, from slurpy cups, to "Got Milk" ads, to GL sneakers, the property is literally everywhere these days.

 

[Bubonic]

This movie spent so much, I don't even think Ghost Rider had such bad reviews from the start and it hardly made it's 100 million back.

 

[Bubonic]

Fresh reviews are up to 9, Rotten at 29 now, they are climbing at the same pace.
How about people that lose their side of the bet is forced to have an avatar of the winners choosing for a day or more?

 

[Draven]

i posted this in the news thread but figured I would put it here as well since everyone has been in here.

There is an extra scene after the movie is over. I thought you would want to know.

 

[Bubonic]

Of the 9 reviews considered fresh only 2 actually sound mildly positive, the rest are actually negative or at best lukewarm.

 

[moviedoors]

You're still not understanding this.....none of the prior attempts at Superman were carried over into Superman Returns...the scripts, the designs, etc. SR didn't get to benefit from any of that, so you can't add those costs to that movie's budget and net take, etc. Spiderman had some substantial development before the Raimi version but never made it to production, did they add those costs to its budget?

SR fell below expectations because it was expected to do better in and of itself...prior attempts or no prior attempts...not to make up for other efforts that didn't even make it to the screen. And again....if you don't diligently include all prior efforts/costs for every movie that has them, you shouldn't do it for any. That's as cut and dry as it gets. When developments don't get to the greenlight/production stage, they become internal/development/operational costs that the studio hopes to recoup from all their profits each fiscal year.

This was just another case of 'piling on' by those who wanted to exaggerate a point of view, or somehow deflect responsibility from SR as a film. We didn't get an SR sequel because......<drum roll>....SR, and only SR, wasn't good or successful enough to warrant one.

I haven't mentioned the previous costs on projects prior to SR. Not once.

 

[Silver Surfer]

It's up to 10 positive, and 31 negative now, I think in the next couple of days the negatives are going to come at a faster rate and dwarf the positives.

 

[Bubonic]

I'm willing to be very generous with this and deny my usual standards if this can just hold out over 25% by Saturday.

 

[Metropolis_Man]

The thing with Thor was that it was just a really likable movie. It was easy to overlook the flaws in the writing because the performances were great, the lead characters were fully formed and it was charming. The character moments, like Loki confronting Odin or Loki visiting Thor on Earth, were more memorable than the action scenes.

Seems GL fails at that. You need great characters in a film. Characters you can connect with, whether they are likable or not. Because if you don't have great characters... why would you care about the danger they are in? Why would you care about anything else in that world?

Green Lantern is on the same level as Thor and the first Iron Man movie to me. I actually came out enjoying GL more than Thor and Iron Man. The pacing was a little fast but so was Thor's. The characters in Lantern are as likeable as any in the other movies and there isn't a problem of flat, unintelligent characters. It just seems people wanted to dislike this movie from the beginning and now have their chance to slam it just because they've seen it.

 

[SolidRoar]

That's interesting about your opinion with the action when I've read on plenty of reviews that the action isn't the problem and that it easily bests Thor in the action department....

Don't bet on that. And even if that was true, GL doesn't have anything else going for it. It's cheesier. We just said that Thor was charming. It has nice performances. Sadly, I can't say the same about GL.

 

[Silver Surfer]

I'm willing to be very generous with this and deny my usual standards if this can just hold out over 25% by Saturday.

Wow I never would have imagined it being this bad, to not even know for sure whether or not it could hold out over 25%?. I knew that it would underwhelm when compared to Thor and Cap when all is said and done but this movie is way way below their league. Jonah Hex and Ghost Rider are it's competition at this point.

 

[moviedoors]

I really think critics are losing their touch. Sometimes, they are dead right about a film and sometimes they're not.

You mean, just like always?