Clocking in at one hour and forty-five minutes (which felt much longer), I think it's safe to say that "Green Lantern" is an unmitigated disaster. It's hard to even say what's wrong with the film. Pacing, acting, story, effects and editing were all atrocious.
First off, the introduction with Clancy Brown escaping the lost sector should have been cut. Not only would WB have saved a few million in the process, the audience would have been saved from unneeded exposition. CGI videogame characters being killed is the starting stinger for the movie? Not the best decision.
The rest of the introduction felt like the beginning of David Lynch's Dune. Odd story, odd characters, and the audience is thrown directly into the absurd and fake. The scenes on Oa reek of Dune, especially the Toto inspired sci-fi soundtrack. It came off as strange (not in a good alien/Star Wars way).
The characterization was even worse, Ryan Reynolds has no character arc, that's pretty strange for a superhero origin movie. Hal Jordan starts the movie off as a cocky careless pilot, and ends as a cocky careless Green Lantern. He even uses the same trick on Paralax as he did with the fighter jets. Blake Lively, when she's not flashing naked pictures of herself, is just painful to watch. Peter Sarsgaard came off as a screaming/crying John Carpenter, and Mark Strong was surprisingly under-utilized. The only wholesome scene was between Hal and his nephew, but that was short lived.
The SFX seemed overly fake and unnecessary. It took the effects team that long and that much to make that!? The guardians, shoehorned Tomar-Re and Kilowog, Oa, and worthless extra corps members distracted from the entire story as a whole. I understand that WB wanted to capitalize on Iron Man and Avatar, but this took none of the positive aspects of either film.
In the end I don't blame Martin Campbell, this was his first SFX heavy film and was forced to become a "yes" man. I blame WB, Geoff Johns, Michael Goldenberg and the CGI team. This played out like a comic (specifically Secret Origin) and not a movie. This should have been a character study of a broken man (Hal Jordan) finding the willpower in himself to rise to the occasion of joining something bigger than himself.
Here's what I would have changed:
1. Cut out the beginning and cringe worthy CGI on Oa, simply set the movie on Earth and ground it in the real world.
2. Give Hal Jordan a practical suit and domino mask, use post to make it glow.
3. Carol Ferris and Hal need a "can you read my mind" flying scene ala Superman: The Movie. Cut out the conversations they have that's painfully similar to Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman in Batman Forever. Get rid of Blake Lively and find a real actress we can connect with.
4. Hal Jordan should be a raging alcoholic with past personal demons. After a drunken night out on the town, he stumbles across Abin Sur (think purple space Jesus). Paralax uses Hal's fears and demons to temporarily overwhelm him.
5. When Hal is confronted in the hangar without his ring, he should have used his "inner light" to defeat Paralax. The power of the ring is worthless without the man behind it. The ring simply amplifies the light/courage inside of us. He says to oath as he's about to die and the Green Lantern suit burns through his regular clothes as he becomes the new Christ. Hell, they did this in the Sorcerer's Apprentice with Merlin's ring.
6. Either use Marc Strong or don't. He was under-utilized as Sinestro.
7. Have a real THEME! The temp music was not memorable and uninspired.
8. It should have a Matrix-esque ending where Hal Jordan has fully become Jesus/ The Green Lantern. Cue fly-by and rock music. END.
