AnorexicBatman
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http://www.craveonline.com/entertainment/comics/article/why-green-lantern-wont-work-as-a-movie-80605
I can't begin to explain how wrong this guys is. I read the 1st draft. It flowed wonderfully and everything was explained. It was almost perfect and as far I as know the 3rd draft is longer and possibly better.
About the multiple Lanterns, they seem to already have set it up. Alan is the retired hero who one day may once again be called into action, Hal is the current hero and Gardner is the rival. Sinestro is the mentor who turns evil, we saw this already in Batman Begins.
BY IANN ROBINSON
JUL 13, 2009
Late last week it was announced that Ryan Reynolds, the man who once breathed life into Marvel Comics Deadpool, had been given the role of Hal Jordan in the upcoming Green Lantern movie. It now seems as if the GL movie is firing on all pistons with a big time leading man donning the ring and James Bond director Martin Campbell assigned to helm the epic sci-fi/comic book/adventure yarn.
Im a big time Green Lantern fan, have been ever since I was a kid. Outside of Batman and Wolverine there was no other hero Id have rather been than Green Lantern Of Sector 2814. The idea of a ring producing whatever I imagined was exciting to me as was the idea of being part of a galactic police force. I didnt discover Alan Scott (the more magic based original Green Lantern) until much later so as far as I knew Hal Jordan was the first and best member of the Green Lantern world. With my devotion to the character so incredibly defined it follows that this movie news would drive me into fits of sheer ecstasy. Sadly though, it doesnt. In fact Im actually kind of bummed about it.
I dont like comic book movies for the most part and Im fully aware Im in a minority there. To be honest the only comic book movies I have enjoyed were Superman, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Beyond those three I either hated films based on comics or I was just disappointed. Im from the Alan Moore school of thinking that there are things done in comics that should be left there and I think Green Lantern tips into that arena. Its not just a shallow idea that the movie will suck but rather an extensive collection of examples that prove why Green Lantern will be a poison pill for Hollywood.
To start Green Lantern is too peripheral a character to really get people excited to see the film. This has long been a DC Comics problem that most of their characters are peripheral outside of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. For those of us who grew up loving comics Green Lantern is as important as any DC character but for the mainstream audience hes little more than a name they might recognize.
Some folks may claim that Iron Man is also a peripheral character and while that may be true to a degree Iron Man has some things going for it that Green Lantern doesnt. First off (with the exception of a small War Machine story arc) Iron Man has always been about Tony Stark and his adventures as old shell-head.
After forty plus years people recognize both the name Tony Stark and Iron Man so theres at least a wisp of interest there. Outside of that its just easier to bend and conform the comic book story to fit a movie simply because all you have to do is stick Tony Stark in some kind of adventure and then add Iron Man effects.
With Green Lantern youre talking at least three separate Lanterns that have been mainstays of DC Comics. Starting with Alan Scott, moving into Hal Jordan and then Kyle Rainer. Most moviegoers dont know any of those three by name and by default simply dont care about the back-story. People knew Iron Man/Tony Stark had been a billionaire and a drunk and a flashy ladies man. You ask anybody outside the comic world what Kyle Rainer did for a living or for a brief history of Hal Jordan theyll probably ask you who the hell that is.
That leaves the comic book and nerd population to fill the seats and there you have splintered dedications about the book. Some say it should be about Alan Scott since he was the first while others say Hal Jordan is the only one a movie should be done about. Theres even a small percentage that want a Kyle Rainer movie, I know it sounds absurd but its true. Collectively we couldnt make Green Lantern a hit so splintered wed have even less of a chance. This is all of course based on the idea that the movie doesnt suck.
That brings us to the incredibly dense and interwoven history of the Green Lanterns. Where exactly is a film version going to start? If it goes with the origin of Hal Jordan then it would have to include Sinestro which would mean including the Green Lantern Corps and by that time you have a huge plot line that will confuse the uninitiated while simultaneously boring those of us who know the history cold. The filmmakers could try to do a Parallax (the yellow entity that possess Hal Jordan turning him evil) story line but then theyd have to tell Jordans origins and history in flashbacks, which would quickly become too intricate for the popcorn movie crowd.
Remember, people want to go to movies like this to be entertained become incredibly involved in a rich historical tapestry they dont care about. Besides where would that story end? When Jordan goes into the sun or afterwards when he becomes The Spectre? Its hard to do one without the other.
Sticking with the origin story you then have to explain the crux of Green Lanterns powers. No audience member who isnt a comic reader is going to care that the green power comes from imagination and will but that yellow light means fear which can counteract the green and so on. When I start explaining that to people they tune out imagine how pissed theyll be if theyve paid for it.
You also have no direct well-known villain. Batman has Joker, Superman has Lex Luthor the X-Men have Magneto the list goes on. With Green Lantern, other than Sinestro, you have no real villain and Im here to tell you that Sinestro is not well known. Wolverine had no real well known adversary to in order to turn a buck Fox threw everything but the kitchen sink into the movie. Green Lantern doesnt have that many kitchen sinks to throw into it. To solve these dilemmas those in charge would start cutting and splicing the story to fit a film and do we, as fans really want that?
One of the best things about Green Lantern is that the comics slide from one genre to the other. At times its a personal drama, then it becomes a straight adventure comic, a sci-fi story, a political intrigue read and so on. You simply dont have enough time to do that in a movie so Green Lantern would be reduced to a special effects eye candy movie, a fact that does a terrible injustice to the lineage and history of the character.
In movie scripting terms Batman works because the comic was mostly a dark detective story, Superman a sci-fi adventure and Wolverine a badass action comic. The X-Men is a comic title with the same rich history as Green Lantern and look how badly those movies were handled. Huge chunks rewritten or excluded simply to make the film more palatable to movie audiences really hurt those movies. Remember Im judging them by quality not the box office receipts.
Or course there is the dollars and cents angle of making a Green Lantern movie, a problem that will lead to several mistakes on the part of the movie company. You have to remember that Green Lanterns primary power is that his ring can create anything his imagination can come up with. This presents a movie problem on a few levels.
The first is straightforward costs. Not only does this ring create whatever it needs to, the creations are always green. Imagine the CGI costs of creating a three-dimensional image that moves and fights but is glowing green the whole time. Even if movie Hal Jordan makes something as simple as a fist itll be a major undertaking to execute well.
If the movie is just flying green fists nobody will care so the images the ring creates will have to get more elaborate and thus the special effects budget will climb higher and higher. Superman need only fly or use heat vision, Batman jumps of buildings and throws Batarangs while Green Lanterns create huge green polar bears or roller coasters or machine guns and so on. Creating those visuals and not making them look cheap is a tall order for a movie about a largely unknown character to the 80% of the world that doesnt read comics.
Then theres the lack of actual physical battles. For the most part Green Lantern wars are like spaceships having laser battles with lasers that form into visuals. How interested is an audience going to be watching two hours of guys flying around and pointing their fists at each other? Even if Green Lanterns and their enemies do exchange fisticuffs then thats exactly what theyll be doing, fist fighting. Theres no super power here beyond the rings and watching two guys beat each other up isnt going to pack the theaters the way Hollywood needs them. You put a bar fight in space its still a bar fight.
Outside of that you have the sheer vastness of the other Green Lanterns and their home planet of OA. To create Killawog (the Green Lantern veteran solider) would be a CGI trick of massive undertaking and hes one of the easier characters. Even the Guardians, the ones who give a Green Lantern his ring, are tiny and blue. Youre looking at a cast of thousands that are all CGI and must done so well an audience identifies with them and cares about them. This is no easy feat for an effects team with an endless budget which, being the first untested film, this team wont have.
The next mistake is one Hollywood has already made, casting a star. Ryan Reynolds is a lighthearted romantic comedy actor, the pretty boy guy girls wish they could meet, hes not Green Lantern. Those of us who were scarred for life by viewing the Wolverine movie remember Reynolds seriously lacking portrayal of Deadpool. Funny guy snappy one-liners arent going to work here. Green Lantern isnt Mr. Saturday Night and I just dont think he can play his roles any other way.
Its also that Reynolds is a massive celebrity and thats just the wrong move to carry a comic book hero. People need to see a Green Lantern on the screen not a famous person dressed as a Green Lantern. Christopher Reeves was an unknown before Superman and even Batmans Christian Bale and Wolverines Hugh Jackman were under the radar when they were hired. Hiring Reynolds or any other big star means Hollywood is instantly thinking marketing and open weekend returns a fact that doesnt bode well for a superior film.
Again people may bring up Iron Man stating that Robert Downey JR is a big star and Iron Man was a good movie. Even if the latter were true Downey JR had long since doused his star with the cold water of controversy. Downey JR needed Iron Man more as a comeback, a way to show he could carry a big film on his own.
Moviegoers didnt associate Downey JR with any one role or genre a fact thats not true with Ryan Reynolds. Hes the date movie guy and putting him in a superhero role just doesnt work. The same would be true for Justin Timberlake (who also tested for GL). Perhaps Hangover star Bradley Cooper would have been better in theory because hes not too well known but having seen his movies I dont think hes up the challenge either.
So there you have it, budget issues, actor issues, content issues and story issues. This is a movie filled with problems before scene one is shot. Green Lantern is a vast and layered story that encompasses a huge cast of characters, multiple worlds and incredibly visual conflicts.
Those elements work in a comic book because they have room to breathe and time to grow. Cramming all of that into a two-hour movie will most likely bleed out everything that makes it so special. This is story telling on an epic level and it belongs in comic books and maybe in animated films but not as flesh and blood.
Weve already lost Wolverine, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, Swamp Thing, Steel, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and others to the world of bad movie making why sacrifice yet another. Let the Green Lanterns remain on the page giving us year after year of great stories instead of burning out on screen in a vile attempt to sell tickets.
I can't begin to explain how wrong this guys is. I read the 1st draft. It flowed wonderfully and everything was explained. It was almost perfect and as far I as know the 3rd draft is longer and possibly better.
About the multiple Lanterns, they seem to already have set it up. Alan is the retired hero who one day may once again be called into action, Hal is the current hero and Gardner is the rival. Sinestro is the mentor who turns evil, we saw this already in Batman Begins.
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