The Official Green Lantern Review Thread - Part 3

[J.Howlett]

Yeah, I thought many would've made the connection between his nephew and the racetrack construct.

 

[J.Howlett]

Morningstar,

He's not embracing the yellow ring. He's curious about the yellow power of fear after he's given the backstory of Parallax.

Trust me, if a sequel is made, Sinestro's not wearing that ring form the outset or at all in the entire film.

 

[The Morningstar]

I'd like to believe you, but I don't.

It is a complete waste of the Sinestro character. At the end it shows him have a grudging respect for Jordan, that's fair enough.

But there should have been more. **** all the lame Earth scenes that take up 90% of the movie. Just have the first third on Earth, getting to know Hal as a person, show him getting the ring, then have the rest of the movie set in space and on Oa. Once he gets to Oa, he should stay out there in space. Earth shouldn't be involved at all. Have the movie dedicated to Hal becoming a GL, going through a proper boot camp, not one training session where he gets his ass kicked. Have him go out visiting other sectors, seeing how the other Lanterns do their thing. Have him an Sinestro form a mentor/student bond that develops into a genuine friendship. Have Hal go with Sinestro to Korugar and reveal the shocking truth about how Sinestro keeps his sector in order, planting seeds for his turn in later movies.

That would have been the cosmic epic the marketing campaign and everyone involved with the movie told us it would have been. The way they lied to all of us was insidious. This wasn't an epic cosmic adventure movie. It was a lame, tv soap opera with a big budget and flashy special fx.

And I gotta laugh at Kilowogs line at the end "Do i train em, or do i train em". Errr...

 

[The Sage]

I figured because he came so close to getting the ring earlier that he was curious about its power. Maybe they should've added a scene after Hal's talk to the Guardians, one of Sinestro looking at the ring, showing some temptation in his eyes or something.

 

[J.Howlett]

Morningstar,

Not for the first Green Lantern film. You can't have the first act be on Earth and the rest in space/Oa. Not with a concept this otherworldly to general audience.

We need an anchor to the mythos of Lantern before we get deep into it with sequels, which is where, I'm betting, that we're going to be getting a "men on a mission" type of storyline where we're going to get to know Hal and how he and the other Corp members work together...

This film is all about why the first human was choosen to be a Lantern. That's kind of important before we really dig deep into the mythos. That's the hook of the film; why he is the first human?

To me, that's the right first choice for a first Green Lantern film. Hell, First Flight didn't even got into that. He's gets chosen and he's cool with it. That doesn't really ring true, especially if you're a human who's seeing alien lifefoms and alien planets for the first time.

 

[The Morningstar]

I don't agree. Audience members don't go to see films like Green Lantern for soap opera esque human drama. They want adventure, they want great characters and a thrilling story. Just like what was advertised.

And showing more of Hal in space and on Oa is a good thing. Because as he learns what the GLC is all about... so do we, as the audience. We follow him on his ride into the great unknown of the universe. We follow him as he learns what being a Green Lantern is about. We learn by being SHOWN what it's all about. Instead of being TOLD in exposition heavy dialogue.

We got none of that. We got the exact opposite. We were constantly being told by Tomar Re what it's all about. That's just ****ing lazy. SHOW us what it's all about by allowing Hal to go on a proper cosmic adventure. We learn, as he learns. Just like with Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. We learnt about the Jedi and all that as he learned. We went along on the adventure with him. Hal Jordan didn't have an adventure in this movie. He sat around moping for a good 75% of it.

 

[J.Howlett]

Sage,

But again go back to the scene with Sinestro taking the Guardians to task. He's clearly upset with them at their lack of inaction.

When he gets the backstory on Parallax and the yellow element of fear, he's intrigued that the Guardians would go this route.

 

[J.Howlett]

Morningstar,

I get showing the audience what it means to be a Green Lantern but you have to attack the idea of why this human being was chosen to be the first human Green Lantern.

That's a big crux of the story you can't just leave to the sidelines to show the cool things that Lanterns do and the cool other worlds.

Why hasn't a human being chosen and why this guy?

I now understand why fans of this comic like the Corp and the mythos more than Hal Jordan.

And I'll admit, I want to explore a lot more but I want an anchor to explore with and having the first Lantern film be about Hal Jordan makes sense to me.

 

[craigdbfan]

Yeah because movies like Avatar, Star Trek (09), Aliens, etc. haven't completely shown that being on Earth isn't a necessary aspect to be both successful critically and financially.

If anything audiences have repeatedly shown to love movies that take place on other planets/space with limited time on Earth. Those movies when well done are amazing and usually resonate quite well with audience actually.

This "well it wouldn't work because the GA would reject it, space and other planets and such are far to farfetched" train of thought doesn't cut it, if anything history has proven that wrong several times.

 

[The Morningstar]

There wasn't really an examination on why a human was chosen in this movie though.

You could have shown that by having it focus on Hal's training, going out to visit different sectors etc.

Show him when he first comes on the scene as a useless rookie, who gets put down as just a human. Show him actually develop as a character, show him overcome the resentment from the other Lanterns, show him prove his worth in either training or when say, a regular inspection of a planet goes wrong and they get attacked, like have him save a couple of the more experienced Lanterns.

Or you could even have the Manhunters attack Oa, and because it's such an emergency all the Lanterns, including rookies, are called up to fight. Hal then proves he's a bad ass or whatever. See that's what this movie should have been about I think. The Manhunters being the big threat, with the grand finale of the film taking place on Oa. Instead of jumping the gun and using Parralax attacking Earth.

 

[J.Howlett]

I agree with the "show" part, but not on the job when he's just come to understand that we as humans are not alone in the universe, which he says in the film.

It's a shock to the system and now you want him to be on the job as well? That doesn't fly.

craig,

Yeah, we seen other successful films that take place on other worlds and such but again, the hook of the film is why Hal's the first human ever to be chosen to be a Lantern in their ridiculously long history.

You can't get into that aspect on other worlds, in my opinion...especially when he has doubts about himself just as a human, let alone as being apart of this intergalactic group of space cops.

 

[The Morningstar]

The film didn't get into that aspect anyway.

Why couldn't they go into that if it was set on Oa or in space? So, he needs to be on Earth to develop as a character? He needs to be on Earth for the whole "first human Lantern" thing to be examined?

Come on man, usually I think you make great points even when i disagree with you, but it seems you're just scratching around for excuses here.

 

[craigdbfan]

Why should him being the first human affect the amount of screen time in space and other planets, why should this element be hindered?

What would be lost of audiences or be to jarring for them to accept? A well written and directed movie can easily spend 5 or 10 minutes of the beginning story on Earth and have most of it's scenes take place elsewhere without a problem if approached in the correct way. The premise shouldn't act as a deterrent to play it safe and restrict the movie as much as possible but instead to find a way to make the more fantastical aspects about a rich world come to life.

For the very reason the Green Lantern Corp have a long history as you mentioned, they should have delved into it and embraced it instead of giving a 20 minute snippet of the more otherworldly aspects of the mythos and neuter the rest of the movie and place it on Earth for the majority because of that. It seems so counterintuitive to make such a decision.

For me it just boils down to a complete mishandling of a large budget due to the peoples level of imagination in this. Green Lantern isn't just a SH movie it's a whole universe that revolves around heavy sci fi elements. Simply put Campbell while being a great director in other genres wasn't ever cut out to make a science fiction movie.

That's where the main problem seems to stem from, I'm not even blaming WB in their monetary efforts because they tried but they messed up at picking the director and writing team for this.

That limited the movie to what it is today.

 

[J.Howlett]

Morningstar,

It's not excuses. This is how I felt about the film, just as your opinion is how you felt about the film.

And yes, they technically did get into that aspect as to why he's the first human Lantern. Some of it was shown. Some of it was told. It should've been all shown...which is a legit criticism.

Hell, the entire climax of the picture is showing why Hal's the first human Lantern. Even with doubts, he's fearless in his actions against Hector and Parallax.

 

[DarkSuperman]

I figured because he came so close to getting the ring earlier that he was curious about its power. Maybe they should've added a scene after Hal's talk to the Guardians, one of Sinestro looking at the ring, showing some temptation in his eyes or something.

There was actually a scene like that in the first draft after the send the lanterns to combat parallax ( or legion as he was called early on) they're restraining him with Green chains and he almost gets loose until sinestro bends the monster to his will with by tightening the chains and he and Parallax share a brief moment where Sinestro covets his power...its a really subtle awesome scene...THEY CUT!!

 

[J.Howlett]

But craig, this film isn't about the Corps. It's about Hal. That's why.

We get an introduction and some history on the Corps. But this film isn't about the Corps.

And this film embraces it's roots way more than a lot of comic book movies. The strangeness of the mythos gets a lot of play. It's just that we don't get more of it...and I don't think, for this first film, you need that much more.

 

[The Morningstar]

The film should be about Hal's introduction to the Corps. Thusly, OUR instroduction to the Corps.

We should learn about Hal, the person AND the Corps as we follow him on his training and adventures.

 

[J.Howlett]

Morningstar,

Agree to disagree then.

You could've easily said the same thing about Thor. Why don't we get more introduction into the other nine realms, instead of just Thor, Asgard, and Earth....?

 

[craigdbfan]

But craig, this film isn't about the Corps. It's about Hal. That's why.

We get an introduction and some history on the Corps. but this film isn't about the Corps.

And this film embraces it's roots way more than a lot of comic book movies. The strangeness of the mythos gets a lot of play. It's just that we don't get more of it...and I don't think, for this first film, you need that much more.

Your kind of contradicting yourself here a bit man.

the hook of the film is why Hal's the first human ever to be chosen to be a Lantern in their ridiculously long history

So why almost completely ignore one of the best and interesting aspects of the supposed hook? See how that makes very little sense?

The human factor and being an anomaly within the Corp was barely invested in and that's what makes the original stories in the comics far more interesting than this film was able to convey. By having Hal for a good of the majority of the film trying to prove himself worthy in a fully explored Oa and GL corp, it would have added far more meaning, value, and character development this movie didn't allow that. Audiences would instantly connect due to our immediate inclination to relate to a character in such a out of place environment.

That's what the GL movie should have done but this entire "keep" Hal Jordan on Earth with a really boring and poorly executed love arc with a friend that he knew from highschool gone bad angle was just very poorly added and frankly misplaced for this film. The love story is fine but the whole Hammond was our close friend thing didn't work at all.

 

[DarkSuperman]

The even cut the scene with hal's disappointed mother smacking him at the birthday party for what he did with the jets earlier. She says "After all this family's been through? How could I raise such a selfish child. Your father would be ashamed" and he Hal goes "yeah, well he's dead so -- " then SMACK! Thats reminiscent of Odin's fury in Thor and would've done a lot for the character development...but noooooooo that scene was cut.

 

[The Morningstar]

Morningstar,

Agree to disagree then.

You could've easily said the same thing about Thor. Why don't we get more introduction into the other nine realms, instead of just Thor, Asgard, and Earth....?

Because they are not necessary to the development of the Thor character.

Showing Hal interact more with the Corps is necessary to the development of the character. It would allow us to see the journey from rookie GL who is looked down upon because he's human... to a great GL who also proves that humans are not worthless.

That would have given us a character arc of A-B-C

Because at the end of the day, he goes from Green Lantern drop out after one training session... to world saver after a ****ing pep talk from a pretty girl.

That gave us a character arc of A-C

 

[BH/HHH]

He's not asking for permission. He's deciding to show them proof that their way of will is the best way, not give into fear.

He's going to show them proof that he's worthy and that human's, as a species, are worthy of being Lanterns.

You do understand that the Guardians were going to sacrifice Earth and wait for Parallax to come to Oa and fight fear with fear. The Lanterns, as a whole, have a standing order to wait until Parallax attacks them.

This is one of the problems Sinestro has with the Guardians and why the end credits sequence makes sense. Sinestro acts. The Guardians don't.

Inevitably he had no choice but to go alone and thats why he becomes the greates Grren Lantern of them all.

Also wasn't John Stewart supposed to be in this film?

 

[MadVillainy]

The even cut the scene with hal's disappointed mother smacking him at the birthday party for what he did with the jets earlier. She says "After all this family's been through? How could I raise such a selfish child. Your father would be ashamed" and he Hal goes "yeah, well he's dead so -- " then SMACK! Thats reminiscent of Odin's fury in Thor and would've done a lot for the character development...but noooooooo that scene was cut.

Ya then she asks "How did I raise someone so selfish" and Hal says "You didn't I became this way all by myself" that was a pretty good scene

 

[J.Howlett]

But Hal doesn't need to prove himself. Hal's trying to understand why he was chosen, given the certain criteria that's apart of the job description to being a Green Lantern...a part that he believes he has in spades...that he's afraid.

If he has fear in his heart, why was he chosen?

 

[J.Howlett]

Morningstar,

But, Hal does prove why human's aren't worthless with his decision and showdown with Hector and Parallax.

And there is an A-B-C arc...the problem is the B. It's told mostly, with a tad showing. A legit criticism of the arc of Hal Jordan as represented in the film.