Green Lantern: The Early Reviews Are Bad. Really Bad.
By
Acemace,
Posted on: 2011-06-16 04:32 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
That scenes not messed up is purely your opinion. As I said before I enjoyed all the regular non vital bits except for the Hammond stuff. And I thought the graphics were just fine. Maybe if like you I had only seen it as a cam version then I wouldn't have liked it as much. But you definitely have no basis on which to judge quality of effects when you are basing it on a cam version.
The only part I agree with you on is that Hammond should have been removed. And even at that I don't mind the Hammond being recruited and examining the body part. I just don't like how the character was approached as a threat. It felt just tagged on. Much in the same way that Sandman should have been the only villain in Spidey 3. Yes Hammond is a regular villain in the GL mythology but a lame one. It is my feeling that ANY super hero origin movie should have only one villain. After the origin movie then it's acceptable to bring in multiples but only if it's well done. The sole exception to this rule is Scott Pilgrim where it worked great because the villains were intended to exist solely for the fights and didn't need any character development.
Here is my final argument against your analysis Durakken. I didn't think the writing, special effects or acting was bad. Blake Lively was a bit wooden but she always is and it didn't matter because she didn't have much screen time. It was Hal's story, not hers. Hopefully if at some point they decide to make a Star Sapphire it will be a different actress playing her.
Hammond was just plain out of place.
Everything else fit just fine.
I liked the movie. This is my argument. I liked it. Other people liked it. We can not possibly be wrong because unless somebody hypnotized us or in some other way altered our perceptions then we actually did enjoy the movie. You didn't enjoy it, I get it. But like I said before. I think you tend to make assumptions based on your expectations of what you are going to see rather than what you actually see. And you saw a cam version. Even the best movies can suck when you are watching a version recorded by somebody on an iphone.
Don't count your weasels before they pop dink!
Quote:
Downloading the film and documenting when each scene starts and stops does not prove you actually "watched" the film.
|
Originally Posted by Durakken
Green Lantern parts pertinent to the story they were trying to tell...
33:30 minutes This excludes the party scene, Hammonds/Hal fight at cadmus, and Hammond/Hal talk-fight Time devoted to Carol and Hal's relationship... 14 minutes Time Devoted to Hammond... (and still badly developed) 32 minutes Time spent with Kilowog... 2 minutes How bout this ones... Scene time where scenes are not messed up in any way, either by acting, editing, writing, directing, bad story, or bad graphics... 2:15 I actually thought there'd be more than that but i guess not... there is a lot of really badly placed comedy, bad editing, and characters not acting right... 46 minutes could have been just removed...the Carol and Hammond scenes here's the full time line Spoilers 00:00 - 03:44 = Parallax intro 03:45 - 06:14 = Abin Sur's ship destroy 06:15 - 08:49 = Hal Jordan goes to work. Talk about the Sabers. 08:50 - 12:19 = Hal & Carol dog fight Sabers 12:20 - 13:38 = Hal has Flash backs 13:39 - 15:48 = Hal ejects and gets a lecture 15:49 - 16:28 = Abin sends ring to find new GL 16:29 - 19:17 = Hal goes home and has familly issues 19:18 - 21:34 = Hal is taken to Abin Sur and gets the ring 21:35 - 23:30 = Hal Jordan calls his friend and comedy routine ensues as getting chased away 23:31 - 25:19 = Sinestro talks to the Guardians 25:20 - 28:04 = Hammond called to Cadmus 28:05 - 28:33 = Hal tries to get the Lantern to activate 28:34 - 28:47 = Hammond disects abin 28:48 - 29:19 = Hal continues 29:20 - 29:29 = Hammond continues 29:30 - 30:03 = Hal continues 30:04 - 30:11 = Hammond continues 30:12 - 30:49 = Hal continues and Carol shows up and they go out to drink 30:50 - 31:45 = Hammond talks to Waller 31:46 - 34:32 = Hal and Carol at bar 34:33 - 36:20 = Hal leaves randomly and gets in a random fight where he activates the ring randomly and starts journey to Oa 36:21 - 36:36 = Hammond has nightmares 36:37 - 36:49 = Hal's journey continues 36:50 - 37:06 = Hammond washes face 37:07 - 37:35 = Hal's journey continues 37:36 - 39:30 = Hal is scanned Wakes up on Oa 39:31 - 45:49 = Tomar-Re takes Hal to Corp meeting hall 45:50 - 47:46 = Kilowog shows up and bullies Hal 47:47 - 50:30 = Sinestro bullies Hal 50:31 - 51:06 = Hal Returns to Earth 51:07 - 54:34 = Hammond teaches a class. Attacks a kid psychically on accident. Examins his blood. Meets with father 54:33 - 54:43 = Hal looks longingly outs a window 54:44 - 57:31 = GLC challenge Parallax and Sinestro talks to Guardians 57:32 - 64:17 = Party, Hammond accidentally causes accident. Hal saves day as GL 64:18 - 65:25 = Hammond goes home and has a headache 65:26 - 67:31 = Hal's friend shows up and demands to be shown GL stuff 67:32 - 71:35 = Hal goes to Carol's place 71:36 - 73:53 = Hammond is creepy outside of Carol's place and then goes to Cadmus 73:54 - 74:33 = Hal remembers what people said 74:34 - 79:35 = Hammond attacks Cadmus and Fights Hal 79:36 - 81:23 = Hal talks with carol and friend 81:24 - 81:37 = Parallax talks to Hammond 81:38 - 84:28 = Yellow ring forged. Hal talks to the Guardians. 84:29 - 91:20 = Hal returns to earth and fight-talks Hamond 90:21 - 96:30 = Hal fight Parallax 96:31 - 97:58 = Hal is saved and Sinestro gives a speech 97:59 - 99:57 = Hal/Carol kiss scene |
Quote:
so you disliked 1/3 of the movie.|
Originally Posted by Mandu
That scenes not messed up is purely your opinion. As I said before I enjoyed all the regular non vital bits except for the Hammond stuff.
|
66% liked is a bad movie.
i had more posted but server messed up and i don't feel like reposting
Quote:
I don't think Hammond was too out of place and i think he served as a decent villain for Hal to break his teeth on before getting into the big throw down with the smoke monster from Lost... er Parrallax. True they didn't spend much time on the connection between Hal and Hammond, but i dont think they really needed to. I think it was enough to see that Hector was going to be the bad guy and why, and that Hal really didn't give a damn about him. |
Originally Posted by Mandu
Hammond was just plain out of place.
|
Hammond gave the audience a human evil to despise over the big cosmic evil. Could've been done better, true, but i dont see it as that bad.
GL is just one more reason not to pay too much attention to critics. This movie´s awesome... not a single minute too long and with the right balance of romance(barf), action and comedy.
And while Thor had it´s moments (Warriors Three), it´s definetly not better than Green Lantern... far from that actually.
And while I usually don´t like synchronized movies, I still can´t wait for GL to come to cinemas in Germany... I just have to see it in 3D.
@Redcap
ANARCHY = A Society that does not need government
114. Ahrouns do not appreciate my particular brand of humour, so I should stop bleaching bulls-eyes in their fur.
I saw it and enjoyed it. Went in with low expectations came out happy. Didn't like parallax in the story or how it was done. So many better choices.. Durakken is mostly right when he says the movie did many things that were "Eh" and few that were "great." The rest is personal taste and ability to suspend disbelief and just enjoy.
They did bring one of my favorite panels to life in the movie. I would be happy to pay ten dollars for that two minutes of film by itself.
Not a great movie and probably better after some wine/beer. Good enough for me.
Liberty Server
Having fun everyday.
I want some to re-edit the movie so that all the crap is taken out. You'd get a 45 min movie most likely, but it'd be far superior
also...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_2n3...&feature=feedu
I saw it tonight. I liked it. Sorry internet, your hyperbole didn't win this time.
I saw it tonight as well and I quite enjoyed it. I liked it more than Thor, the last Iron Man movie, the last Spider-Man move, and a bunch of others. It had plenty of cosmic, superhero and sci fi stuff, along with humor and characters I liked. I don't really care who else hated it or liked it. For me it was worth the money. As a 48 year old comic book nerd ( who still manages to keep his inner child alive somehow... must be the blue pills LOL) It was EXACTLY what I wanted in a Green Lantern Movie.
Confirmed altaholic with 70+ alts in coh and cov...yes i know thats alot! Playing coh since beta test phase.
Quote:
This is why the movie was weak. It asked the audience to make too many assumptions. It left too many gaps to be filled. When you're thinking " ohh well it probably did X" Then guess what, the movie didn't tell you the story, the movie let you fill in the gaps. That's bad movie making. Especially to people who haven't read the comics and don't know all the abilities of the ring. Like my Girlfriend who sat their next to me and was completely unimpressed by the movie. Sure she could "guess" at what was going on, but if you're guessing, then they did a bad job telling you the story they were trying to tell.|
Originally Posted by Mandu
How did Hal find Hammond? How was Hal warned of Parallax? The same way as before. The ring alerts Hal to danger and probably does something to indicate the direction of the danger leading him in that direction. No there is no direct statement that the ring will point you in the direction of the danger but you can probably safely make that assumption.
|
Quote:
| What did you think happened if not an alert from the ring? Did you really picture Kilowog saying "Yo dawgs. Let's go randomly hang out around Earth and see what Hal is doing."? Obviously something alerted them that Parallax was on Earth and that's why they showed up so soon after Hal started fighting. |
You're argument is that the movie was fine despite the fact it left stuff out. Like a book would be fine if some pages were blank and the reader was left to guess what happened on them.
Quote:
| See what I mean when I say you don't pay attention? This is why I tell people to not bother arguing with you. |
Look if you don't feel the movie was weekend for lack of explanations for things, that's one thing, but telling some one they didn't pay attention because they didn't make leaps about missing info in the movie, is another.
Again:
It
wasn't
in
the
Movie.
They didn't show the ring leading him to the base, they showed a couple beeps, which said nothing and then showed him kicking in the door to the base.
They didn't show the ring giving a distress call, say it gave a distress call or even say rings could track other rings. I know they can because I read the comics, I can assume that was what happened, but the movie didn't say that's what happened, they didn't include the explanation in the story and that's on the movie makers for leaving it out, not on others for assuming their way through a movie.
Honestly this movie was bland, and rather weak. The constructs were weird, a car and a race track, seriously, that's the best way to stop the helicopter instead of a giant mattress or something? And if the car could just slam on the breaks, why not have it slam on the breaks in the first place before it went on the race track for too long?
Also the whole crystalline aestetic and glowy bits really didn't add anything to it imo.
Renolds and Lively weren't really right for the roles.
The Badguy was the typical pissed off nerd with daddy issues and wanting the hero's girl, very cliche' and uninspired.
The narrative was all over the place, throwing in his family and memories of his dad as flavor, but never resolved the issues. Kept sort of bouncing back and forth between him being a collossal screw up and his weird relationship with Carol then to the OA stuff and back.
Honestly, there was just nothing good about it. Sure some of the visuals were pretty, but the only part I enjoyed was the "training" scene with Sinestro, the fight was pretty cool though it seemed so hollow and just didn't feel right.
Green Lantern could be a much better movie, I hope they take a few years and go for a remake or reboot...
"Where does he get those wonderful toys?" - The Joker
Quote:
I guess Hal went to the bathroom somewhere along the way. I guess Oa had gravity. And if I'm given 2 + 2, I guess 4. |
Originally Posted by Ice_Wall
Sure she could "guess" at what was going on, but if you're guessing, then they did a bad job telling you the story they were trying to tell.
|
Quote:
| It's like at the end, Paralax is defeated, the day is saved, no further threat and Sinestro puts on the yellow ring... Now I could guess why, but that's not the movie telling me why.... |
Quote:
| Look if you don't feel the movie was weekend for lack of explanations for things, that's one thing, but telling some one they didn't pay attention because they didn't make leaps about missing info in the movie, is another. |
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
Quote:
Actually no it's not, it's the opposite.|
Originally Posted by Tenzhi
Knowing why he put on the ring isn't really necessary at that point. But his motivations are pretty clear given what was established in the movie.
|
Sinestro as presented in the movie has no reason to take on the Yellow Ring
He knows the yellow energy can corrupt you
He knows the yellow energy is weaker than the green
He is not only faithful to the GLC he believes what they stand for
Oh and not to mention in the movie Sinestro doesn't question the Guardians' decisions at all and when he argues his point he gets his way
So in effect he took on a weaker power that is likely to corrupt him for no apparent reason, at all.
Quote:
This is the only complaint you've made so far that I can really agree with. It made no sense at all for Sinestro to put on the yellow ring, especially after his speech not five minutes earlier talking about unity and strengthening the Corps. I was pretty confused about that.
|
Originally Posted by Durakken
Actually no it's not, it's the opposite.
Sinestro as presented in the movie has no reason to take on the Yellow Ring He knows the yellow energy can corrupt you He knows the yellow energy is weaker than the green He is not only faithful to the GLC he believes what they stand for Oh and not to mention in the movie Sinestro doesn't question the Guardians' decisions at all and when he argues his point he gets his way So in effect he took on a weaker power that is likely to corrupt him for no apparent reason, at all. |
My apologies. In my first post I suggested not trying to reason with Durakken and listed the reasons why. then I went ahead and did it myself.
I feel like I've just spent the last few days telling a mirror to stop staring at me.
Don't count your weasels before they pop dink!
Quote:
I would think that the|
Originally Posted by ProcessedMeatMan
This is the only complaint you've made so far that I can really agree with. It made no sense at all for Sinestro to put on the yellow ring, especially after his speech not five minutes earlier talking about unity and strengthening the Corps. I was pretty confused about that.
|
6 minute intro full of backstory that is messed around with and wrong according to actual DC canon
10 minutes talking about the Sabers that don't matter
33 minutes dealing with a badly done characters that isn't the focus of the movie
15 minutes of "romance" that didn't need to be there
11 minutes of Sinestro acting not in accordance with DC canon nor like the character should
8 minutes of what everyone want to the damn movie to see
and 20-40 minutes of a less than adequate to spot on performance of Hal Jordan by Ryan Reynolds... most of it being the less than adequate side. And this is because there is a comedy routine that takes 2-3 times as long as the part where he nails it right before or right after which really makes the bad stand out.
Every time you laughed while watching the movie you should mentally note that as NOT being Green Lantern. I'm not saying that there can't be any comedy in it, but rather that GL's comedy must come from a different place than stupid little comedy skits.
oh also... you guys said that the ring "warned" Hal about danger at Cadmus. It didn't. The ring blinking is used in 2 places, at the beginning to warn Abin of Parallax and on Hal's return home to warn him of Parallax...which he more or less ignored...and that happened AFTER the Cadmus fight.
The ring blinked right before the last fight with Hammond.
Quote:
Yes and he ignored it to fight Hammond. Hammond isn't a threat by any definition.
|
Originally Posted by ProcessedMeatMan
The ring blinked right before the last fight with Hammond.
|
Quote:
At some point in the movie it was stated that the ring would alert a Lantern to danger. It didn't specify what kind of danger, just danger. Hammond had kidnapped Hal's woman. The ring blinked. Threat or not, the ring alerted him to it. Not that hard a concept to grasp.
|
Originally Posted by Durakken
Yes and he ignored it to fight Hammond. Hammond isn't a threat by any definition.
|
I wish the ring talked in this movie. I'd gotten used to the "You have the ability to overcome great fear. I am a power ring sent by the Guardians of the Universe. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps." intro and whatnot.
- CaptainFoamerang
Silverspar on Kelly Hu: A face that could melt paint off the wall *shivers*
Someone play my AE arc! "The Heart of Statesman" ID: 343405
Quote:
And it's actually not the point|
Originally Posted by ProcessedMeatMan
At some point in the movie it was stated that the ring would alert a Lantern to danger. It didn't specify what kind of danger, just danger. Hammond had kidnapped Hal's woman. The ring blinked. Threat or not, the ring alerted him to it. Not that hard a concept to grasp.
|
The problem comes from the fight before that
Hammond at Cadmus.. he's sedated
cut to Hal who is staring off into the sky
cut to Hammond going berserk and Hal coming in out of nowhere
Now first off, you could say that that little brightning at the end of that cut scene was the ring, but it's not shown as such, there is no sound, and when it happens later the body language and such is that of Hal seeing it for the first time.
Secondly, even if you accept that it was he ring in that scene Hal doesn't know where Cadmus is and the movie makes no mention nor does it illustrate that the ring can tell the GL where the danger is or in what direction or anything of that nature, just that there is danger around.
You have a 2 fold problem
And even if you figure out a solution to those 2 problems you are still left with the fact that Hal had still not decided to actually be a hero at this point saying that the ring made a mistake.
So now you have a 3 fold problem
Ok by now many have seen it and for me this movie was a mixed bag.
First I saw it in 2D and skipped the 3D showings as I feel that 3D wasn't necessary to see this movie.
So what did we get in this movie: we got the Hal Jordan from Emerald Dawn.....reckless, immature, irresponsible, and also completely mentally hamstrung over watching his father die. Then we got elements of GL:Rebirth in the form of Parallax as the big bad enemy..... sadly these things did not combine well. Where was Hal Jordan, rough tough test pilot and cowboy/James T.Kirk/Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers combined who is indeed fearless? He sure wasn't in this movie. Don't get me wrong I liked Emerald Dawn the comics for the overall origin story but didn't like how Hal was written in them either.
Ryan Reynolds: sorry, but not a good choice at all for Hal Jordan, he was acting more like Ryan Reynolds and not the space cowboy that Hal Jordan is supposed to be. For pete's sake this is Hal "I am not impressed by Batman's theatrics and can deck Batman in ONE PUNCH" Jordan! Casting him as Kyle Rayner would have been better.
Nice FX for the emerald power, and the ring and battery looked great. Also nice CGI for the assorted members of the Lantern Corps and Kilowog could only have been done by CGI, sorry CGI haters. The Guardians being CGI......eh. I suppose that was better then finding little people to put blue makeup on.........good characterization of the Guardians too....atrophied and reluctant to take action or order the Lanterns into action....just like the Guardians prior to GL:Rebirth.
Planets Ryut and OA as CGI....no objections.
Nice humor about the mask and how it is ineffective in hiding Hal's ID from those that know him well.
The overall drama and tension between Hal and Carol: meh. At least it was better then the total lack of chemistry between Hayden and Natalie in Attack of the Clones......
Abin Sur: nice backstory establishing him as the one Lantern to defeat and lock up Parallax. A bit surprised that he didn't have much time to tell Hal about the ring and battery like he always did in the comics but I guess for the movie it was needed. Though having the ring speak to Hal like it has done in the comics would have been nice too.
Hal trying to learn how to use the ring and battery in his apartment....ok I was so having a bad flashback to the Greatest American Hero as Ralph would try to work the suit after losing the manual.....ugh. Nice joke tributes to Toy Story and He-Man.....
Parallax being a renegade guardian that became contaminated by the yellow power.....seems like a blend of Krona and Appa Ali Apsa.....(i've often believed that it was parallax that drove Appa Ali APsa nuts back in GL Vol 3). Parralax as a giant cloud....ok did someone decide that having Galactus as an energy cloud in FF2 was so good that they could do this again in the GL movie? Granted a giant yellow insect may not have gone over well in the theatres but still......ah well......at least Clancy Brown was a good choice to voice Parallax.
Sinestro pushing the Guardians and persuading them to create the yellow ring....nice set up for a sequel and of course the end credits scene of him putting on the ring was not unexpected...
Hal vs. Parallax ALONE???? Hello, Lantern Corps! What the blazes was that? A group of GL's fail so you let a rookie human, by the way the human has no respect from any GL at this point due to being a human and the aliens looking on humans with contempt....but that's ok go fight Parallax alone! Good grief writers, it took the combined willpower of 4 human GL's in the comics to contain Parallax again and it took the combined power of Hal's will AND THE SPECTRE to purge Hal of being infested by Parallax in GL Rebirth!
Overall I dont think the writers did enough homework on this. Plot was a bit weak and characterization was bad and so was Ryan Reynolds.
May the next GL movie be a reboot.
Nearly all action films include a romance angle, this includes comic book inspired movies. Whether it's Lois Lane, Vicki Vale or that chick with Howard the Duck, the love interest has to be put in danger to be rescued. Expecting an action/comic book movie not to have it is like expecting the theater to pay you to go see it.
It is to big of a trope NOT to do.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Quote:
Now applying brain bleach to Howard the Duck memories....|
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
Nearly all action films include a romance angle, this includes comic book inspired movies. Whether it's Lois Lane, Vicki Vale or that chick with Howard the Duck, the love interest has to be put in danger to be rescued. Expecting an action/comic book movie not to have it is like expecting the theater to pay you to go see it.
It is to big of a trope NOT to do. |
Also, would it have been so difficult to have the emerald energy take Hal when he was in the flight simulator as it has always been the case? Granted being in a street is likely cheaper from a budget standpoint but still.....
Quote:
Was it really that big of a deal they didn't take the simulator? Worse if it had, then the government types wouldve known exactly who to look at once GL showed up. The important part is that upon seeing Abin Sur in danger of drowning, he jumped in to help.
|
Originally Posted by Nericus
Now applying brain bleach to Howard the Duck memories....
Also, would it have been so difficult to have the emerald energy take Hal when he was in the flight simulator as it has always been the case? Granted being in a street is likely cheaper from a budget standpoint but still..... |
For a movie you hate you spent an awfully high amount of time analyzing it. I mean I despise District 9, and I wouldn't have wasted my time breaking down it..or watching it again. This Nerdrage done wrong. I should know as I am nerdrage incarnate.
- Justice
Lastjustice- lvl 50 defender
Leader of Eternal Vigilance.
- Freedom
Lastjudgment - lvl 50 corruptor
Member of V.A.M.P.
Beware:NERDS ARE THE WORST FANS!!