The Official Green Lantern Review Thread - Part 4

[C. Lee]

Honestly...if you have to try that hard to justify liking a movie......there's got to be something really wrong with it.

Sounds more to me like many on here are looking for any reason to not like it.

Is it a perfect movie....nope, I haven't seen one yet. Seen many that are darn great and moving and touch me deeply......and I've seen many that are crap. Green Lantern is neiter the bestest or the worstest. To me it was a fun romp that kept me entertained. If it didn't entertain some of the rest of you...well, that's what free will and opinions are about. It just really seems to me that people are eager to put it down...and to put down those that liked it.

 

[Crimson King]

I think there's also an equal number of people trying to drag other movies down. Unfortunate.

 

[Rock Sexton]

I think there's also an equal number of people trying to drag other movies down. Unfortunate.

.... which has been hilarious to watch .... Like a badly beaten fighter swinging wildly.

 

[The Morningstar]

See the thing is, for me, I could have overlooked the fundamental film making flaws... if i was entertained.

I wasn't. That's why this movie fails even on a popcorn fluff level. It's ****ing boring. There is no tension, there is no emotion, there is no... nothing.

And when you don't have well written characters, or tension, or emotion... how can SFX be entertaining? Doesn't matter how good the CGI is, or how amazing the action scenes are... if there is nothing else there, how can it be entertaining? You might as well be staring at a light bulb.

It's like when people say "oh the movie was horrible... but the action scenes were great!". Hoooooow can you say that? How can action scenes be great if there is no emotion to drive them? No tension or danger to make them visceral and thrilling? Or if you don't care about the characters involved?

 

[Kane52630]

I really wished it took place in the 40's and use some of New Frontier for inspiration. That would of worked but seeing it in modern times didn't work for me.

 

[Crimson King]

Hammond shouldn't have been in this movie. Take him out and have the advance of Parallax on Oa be the overarching tension leading to the climactic battle. Lengthen Hal's training (not necessarily by showing more training, but by hinting that more time passed) and have his failure come on a mission with Sinestro. Hal would go back to Earth, where he regains his confidence, and then shows up for the battle of Oa.

 

[C. Lee]

I think there's also an equal number of people trying to drag other movies down. Unfortunate.

That is one of the sad things about modern comic fans. Negativity rules and rudeness is a way of life. When I was a kid....we hoped prayed and wished for a movie or TV show to be made from a comic book. It seems the **cough** fans of today....hope pray and wish for all comic based movies to fail so that they can say I TOLD YOU SO or so that they can then very lengthly explain how they would have done it better.

I miss the days when being a comic fan meant you were a geek, nerd, bokworm.....not a meanspirited rude crude pessimist.

.... which has been hilarious to watch .... Like a fighter swinging wildly.

That must be why you stir up trouble everywhere you go.

 

[The Morningstar]

Hammond shouldn't have been in this movie. Take him out and have the advance of Parallax on Oa be the overarching tension leading to the climactic battle. Lengthen Hal's training (not necessarily by showing more training, but by hinting that more time passed) and have his failure come on a mission with Sinestro. Hal would go back to Earth, where he regains his confidence, and then shows up for the battle of Oa.

Yes, this would have made a better movie. The movie we were all promised.

 

[mat-chow]

Here's the thing, again I say, Hal Jordan (while my favorite GL) is just NOT that deep of a character. Period. Give him extreme peril and outer space drama to make him tick. At best watch him go from hot shot jerk to authoritative hero. Who is still somewhat of a hot shot jerk. If there ever is another GL film of any stripe, the action needs to go through the roof.

 

[Rock Sexton]

That must be why you stir up trouble everywhere you go.

Not quite C. Lee .....

Stirring trouble is accusing people like myself of having an ax to grind like the lone few apologists of this film are doing. It's a completely dishonest argument.

Stirring trouble would be sitting on this thread arguing with every single poster for 72 straight hours.

Stirring trouble would also fit that category of dragging other films into this conversation who actually performed better. Grasping straws.

 

[C. Lee]

See the thing is, for me, I could have overlooked the fundamental film making flaws... if i was entertained.

I wasn't. That's why this movie fails even on a popcorn fluff level. It's ****ing boring. There is no tension, there is no emotion, there is no... nothing.

And when you don't have well written characters, or tension, or emotion... how can SFX be entertaining? Doesn't matter how good the CGI is, or how amazing the action scenes are... if there is nothing else there, how can it be entertaining? You might as well be staring at a light bulb.

It's like when people say "oh the movie was horrible... but the action scenes were great!". Hoooooow can you say that? How can action scenes be great if there is no emotion to drive them? No tension or danger to make them visceral and thrilling? Or if you don't care about the characters involved?

But some of us were entertained. I'm not saying anything bad about you because you didn't like it....I'm just asking for the same consideration.

 

[KalMart]

Sounds more to me like many on here are looking for any reason to not like it.

Is it a perfect movie....nope, I haven't seen one yet. Seen many that are darn great and moving and touch me deeply......and I've seen many that are crap. Green Lantern is neiter the bestest or the worstest. To me it was a fun romp that kept me entertained. If it didn't entertain some of the rest of you...well, that's what free will and opinions are about. It just really seems to me that people are eager to put it down...and to put down those that liked it.

That wasn't my point. The point was that Maggin went into a long, sprawling diatribe as to why the movie should work for more folks, and why a lot of critics 'missed out'...and it really shouldn't take that much. See that part I bolded in your comment above? Why should it be any more than that? But if you went into some sort of cultural commentary, and brought up creative behind-the-scenes names, Carl Sagan, et al.....just to get the point across the the movie as fun and enjoyable......one would have to wonder at least a little bit if that kind of fun and enjoyment was....well...any fun.

 

[The Morningstar]

But some of us were entertained. I'm not saying anything bad about you because you didn't like it....I'm just asking for the same consideration.

Oh hey of course man. I'm just giving my opinion. My anger is born out of disappointment, i'm sure we've all been there.

 

[HighFivingMF]

I wish everything could succeed, even if I hated a movie I wouldn't wish a flop on it. I'd just not watch it. I've thought movies would be bad before, but I never play the "Toldja!" game. I always hope that I'll end up surprised, that's the case with First Class, I wasn't looking forward to it and thought it would be bad, but when I finally saw it I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Rock Sexton]

I wish everything could succeed, even if I hated a movie I wouldn't wish a flop on it. I'd just not watch it. I've thought movies would be bad before, but I never play the "Toldja!" game. I always hope that I'll end up surprised, that's the case with First Class, I wasn't looking forward to it and thought it would be bad, but when I finally saw it I was pleasantly surprised.

Depends on the perspective from which you judge movies, their budgets, etc. etc.

Every now and then I notice that Hollywood can double as mecca for good ol' boys and friends just making each other filthy rich off of pure garbage. So rooting on failure of a bad movie isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's in the GA's rights to demand better. They can't do that unless they stick it to filmmakers who put out trite.

 

[The Morningstar]

I think bad films should bomb simply because if bad movies succeed... where is the motivation to improve?

 

[KalMart]

I wish everything could succeed, even if I hated a movie I wouldn't wish a flop on it. I'd just not watch it. I've thought movies would be bad before, but I never play the "Toldja!" game. I always hope that I'll end up surprised, that's the case with First Class, I wasn't looking forward to it and thought it would be bad, but when I finally saw it I was pleasantly surprised.

I kinda' had the same feeling with the first XMen movie. I really thought it would be terrible...but when it ended up being good, I liked it even more...maybe moreso than if I went into it expecting nothing.

 

[C. Lee]

That wasn't my point. The point was that Maggin went into a long, sprawling diatribe as to why the movie should work for more folks, and why a lot of critics 'missed out'...and it really shouldn't take that much. See that part I bolded in your comment above? Why should it be any more than that? But if you went into some sort of cultural commentary, and brought up creative behind-the-scenes names, Carl Sagan, et al.....just to get the point across the the movie as fun and enjoyable......one would have to wonder at least a little bit if that kind of fun and enjoyment was....well...any fun.

Different people express themselves differently. I generaly don't research my rebuttle posts like I'm writing a thesis for college....but there are many college age and college attending posters here who do seem to subscribe to that form of posting. So it doesn't bother me if they get intricate with thier post.

Oh hey of course man. I'm just giving my opinion. My anger is born out of disappointment, i'm sure we've all been there.

If you have anger at the makers of the movie, then express it. I am referring to people who appear to be taking some kind of weird glee in bad mouthing the movie and those whose opinion on it differed from them.

I wish everything could succeed, even if I hated a movie I wouldn't wish a flop on it. I'd just not watch it. I've thought movies would be bad before, but I never play the "Toldja!" game. I always hope that I'll end up surprised, that's the case with First Class, I wasn't looking forward to it and thought it would be bad, but when I finally saw it I was pleasantly surprised.

I know what you're talking about. I've hardly read any Green Lantern. I read GL in the 60's...stopped after the Neal Adams run in the 70's. I went into the movie with no expectations at all....I found it fun.

 

[Poni_Boy]

I really wished it took place in the 40's and use some of New Frontier for inspiration. That would of worked but seeing it in modern times didn't work for me.

Give me a Justice Society of America movie focusing on Alan Scott/Green Lantern, Jay Garrick/Flash, Kent Nelson/Dr. Fate and Sandy Hawkins/Sandman. Set it in the 1950s (post WWII when the govt was sweeping crime rates under the rug). Give it a Noir/detective thriller vibe and make it a hard PG-13. That would be WB's answer to Fox's X-Men: First Class

 

[KalMart]

Different people express themselves differently. I generaly don't research my rebuttle posts like I'm writing a thesis for college....but there are many college age and college attending posters here who do seem to subscribe to that form of posting. So it doesn't bother me if they get intricate with thier post.

Me neither, but it is rather amusing when critics go after other critics...and society...and studios....and...

It's like "Dude, it's a movie...did you like it or not?" Goes both ways too, obviously.

 

[gkokujin]

i went in looking to HATE this film from all the reviews.


WTF MAN??? the movie was FINE!!! it wasn't "winning any oscars" (i hate to use that) but its an entertaining movie.

It wasn't anywhere near as horrible as folks made it out to be. I think that Ryan Reynolds was miscast and they should have taken a more serious tone to Hal's character but it was a decent movie.

Better than Jonah Hex
Better than Ghost Rider
Better than XO: Wolverine

*shrug*

to be clear, i didn't love it. I felt it missed the mark...A LOT. but i didn't hate it. I saw room for improvement, i saw hope...
lol. But i would love the sequel to pull a Wrath of Khan and say "were sorry for the first movie, this time we got it right"

 

[Man of Tomorrow]

Give me a Justice Society of America movie focusing on Alan Scott/Green Lantern, Jay Garrick/Flash, Kent Nelson/Dr. Fate and Sandy Hawkins/Sandman. Set it in the 1950s (post WWII when the govt was sweeping crime rates under the rug). Give it a Noir/detective thriller vibe and make it a hard PG-13. That would be WB's answer to Fox's X-Men: First Class

I'd rather not, after GL was supposed to be WB's answer to Iron Man.

 

[Gamma Burst]

LULZ .... everyone is blind I guess, but you and Maggin' ....

Yeah. The excuses to defend a crappy movie are ridiculous.

 

[Majmun]

So far, yahoo user reviews have given Green Lantern a B+.

Thor has a B+ also.

X-Men: First Class has an A-.

So, at this point all three CBM this year are pretty close according to Yahoo users.

 

[Tony Stark]

Sounds more to me like many on here are looking for any reason to not like it.

Is it a perfect movie....nope, I haven't seen one yet. Seen many that are darn great and moving and touch me deeply......and I've seen many that are crap. Green Lantern is neiter the bestest or the worstest. To me it was a fun romp that kept me entertained. If it didn't entertain some of the rest of you...well, that's what free will and opinions are about. It just really seems to me that people are eager to put it down...and to put down those that liked it.

I wasn't eager to put it down. I really wanted to like it, and with the reviews I went in with extremely low expectations. I also wouldn't put down anyone who liked it either. If you were able to enjoy it, more power to you.

I think the GL fans deserved alot more than this.