I had yet to fully emphasize my problems with the movie so I'm just going to do it now.
1. The concept of "Will vs. Fear". Now I'm not familiar with the GL mythology. I just knew who he was. However, this concept to someone like myself is akin to "The Force" in Star Wars, leaving it in an unenviable position and sounding like a cheap knock-off. Star Wars went to great lengths in the original trilogy to unveil the mythos. The "Will vs. Fear" issue in GL was simply just forcefully shoved down the audiences' throats.
2. Show me don't tell me. This film suffers a great deal from this fatal cinematic flaw in almost every single relationship there is. Now, there's only so much time (another issue with this film) to tell all the stories, but certain instances wouldn't be so badly received if it wasn't for the fact that an overwhelming amount of them are.
- Hector's relationship to Hal and Carol (just pops up nowhere at a banquet, aside from that little newspaper clip of Carol that regular audience members have no idea why it's there)
- Hector's relationship to his father (simply told from mind reading)
- Sinestro's relationship to Abin Sur (This was a guy Sinestro idolized, they just simply had Sinestro say it)
- Hal's noble side (simply depicted out of the mouth of his nephew)
- Hal's feeling towards Carol (the movie starts out with him with in bed with another woman and then all of the sudden a bar scene is shown with him pouring his heart out)
- Hal's relationship to his father (Either we should've been shown the relationship or the flashbacks should've been pieced together throughout the film to create the more important picture).
3. Lack of character development. Character's like Abin Sur and Sinestro became throw aways. Personally, I would've rather watched those two guys than Reynold's Hal Jordan. In Abin Sur's case, it was a travesty he didn't get more screen time to indoctrinate the audience as to why his death would send such ripple affects thru the Green Lanterns and why Hal had so much to live up to. Sinestro simply tells you. The entire Corps was a cheap plot moving device. Tomar-Re and Kilowog were mere hosts at the Corps restaurant.
4. The film suffers from two separate movies about daddy issues being depicted thru the first two acts - a film about Hal and a film about Hector.
5. The Villains. Hector Hammond is a problem as a villain. Aesthetically he's just awful to look at, to the point where it's just pure cheese. He looked like a child rapist mixed with Eric from "Mask". Oh and that screaming of his!?!?! The only thing saving Parallax from being one of the all-time worst Villains is the fact that he had a face ..... He would've served much better as an entity like he was shown when first discovered locked away instead a giant mass of floating turd. It was Galactus all over again (as pointed out thousands of times).
6. Not enough imagination. You know, for something as powerful as that ring, I was surprised at the lack of creativity in it's usage. One scene in the movie left me absolutely baffled and that was as Sinestro was leading other Corps members to battle Parallax. Those other Corps member simply fired their rings off to build a net and that was it. That's the best they could do? I mean I understand they were trying to save Hal's fight with Parallax as the climax, but that scene really undermined how powerful this group is supposed to be.
There were also two fight scenes that suffered from horrible dialogue ..... the fight where Hector and Hal are laying on the floor. The other where Parallax is giving Hal his thesis on how he's going to end his world in which Hal forcefully recites the oath. Both were just so lackluster.
7. Transitions were rocky. For example Hal's initial arrival Oa. He gets his speech from Sinestro about how he's unworthy, then in the next scene he's walking in his thru his front door dressed in street clothes. Films like Superman and Thor, these guys with flying abilities you always saw them coming or going.
8. Length. This movie easily needed another 30mins minimum because of the sheer amount of relationships.
9. Ryan Reynolds. Here's my issue with his casting. We all know Ryan plays the same role in almost every film. He's an uninspired choice because he's not "acting" .... They would've been better served using someone who's not known for womanizing and being cocky that way the audience doesn't feel like they're watching Van Wilder with a ring.
10. More of Oa should've been shown and less of Earth. In order to get the audience to connect with Hal, he should've been a stranger in a strange land more often so that they feel they are right there with him.
