Green Lantern (2011)

[Ted C]

I think my worst problem with the movie is the sequel setup.

"The power of fear turned one of our fellow cosmic Guardians into a planet-consuming eldritch abomination that scares us juiceless, and you want us to put it into a ring for you? Okay."

[Hammock Rider]

   Green Lantern wasn't as good as Thor or First Class abd part of that was the acting, sure. But I think it also has to do with the studio committment. You had Kenneth Branaugh directing Thor. With his Shakespearean backround he was a great choice for this movie.  Marvel obviously wanted a top notch production when they hired him. The same applies to First Class. Matthew Vaughn directed Layer Cake and it starred Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and a surprisingly good Kevin Bacon.

   Green Lantern had a lesser cast and crew. . Martin Campbell directed a few James Bond movies so he's ok for action. Ryan Reynolds was a good choice but didn't really seemed that into the part. Blake Lively was ok. Peter Sarsgaard and Mark Strong were good in their smaller roles. I also liked Anglea Bassett as Amanda Waller. The problem is that the best actors had the shortest screen time and the director as fair to middling. The writers have mostly done tv and video games. I think Warner Brothers wanted to make a top tier mocie with this one. They put together some competant people and gave the audience a competant film.

   Sure they missed plenty of opportunites, but unfortunately that's true of the Green Lantern comic as well.  The potential for good stories based on the most elite law enforcement unit in the universe is limitless. Rarely do the books live up to the possibilities.  I'm not saying Green Lantern was at the top of the class, but it wasn't a bad movie either.

[WingedSerpent]

A sequel is planned and now that a lot of stuff is taken care of they can do more cool things.

*Spoiler* (and suggestions)
During the credits there is a scene with Sinestro taking the Yellow ring and it creating his Sinestro Corps outfit.  For the sequel, I say have him trying to be both Green Lantern and Sinestro Corp.  Trying to juggle will and fear as he starts to go too far and imposing his will on others.  Hal could be working beside him trying to keep him good as well as seeing Sinestro's intentions are noble (misguded and going to far-but still noble).  All while fighting some space based Green Lantern rogue like Legion, the manhunters,  Lord Malvolo (an considering he's an evil GL-that could serve as a warning as too what could happen when power is taken too far.

[BoyScoutKevin]

I haven't seen "Thor" and/or "X-men," so I can't comment on them in relation to this one, but I did think this one was not bad . . . not bad. Which may be damning with faint praise, but it did turn out better than I expected. But, still . . .

Maybe because of being p.c., they missed an opportunity to include one of the most unique and great comic book characters (IMHO) of all time. That crack jet mechanic and Eskimo Pieface.

I didn't like also Peter Sarsgaard's external transformation, as it gave away, what I thought was his strongest secret, if you did not know it, which would be his internal transformation.

But the main problem I had with the film was that the filmmakers seemed to be trying to tell two stories in one film. A story set here on earth and a second story set in outer space. Both good stories, but I'd think it'd have been better if they had decided on just one of the two stories and saved the second story for the sequel.

Still, there were several things I liked about the film.

I liked the final battle with Parallax. Though, perhaps for budgetary reasons, it should have gone on longer to build up some sense of suspense.

I liked the fact that the writers seemingly did not take an easy way out. It could have been so simple to make some of the characters unlikable, such as the senator and the doctor, but if they did not make them totally likable, they did make them likable in some ways.

And I liked the fact, that at least for this film, they made Sinestro a hero instead of a villain. As I think he comes off much better as a hero than a villain.

[WingedSerpent]

Maybe because of being p.c., they missed an opportunity to include one of the most unique and great comic book characters (IMHO) of all time. That crack jet mechanic and Eskimo Pieface.

He was in the movie. They just used his real name: Tom Kalmaku. 
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0169806/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kalmaku

[BoyScoutKevin]

Maybe because of being p.c., they missed an opportunity to include one of the most unique and great comic book characters (IMHO) of all time. That crack jet mechanic and Eskimo Pieface.

He was in the movie. They just used his real name: Tom Kalmaku. 


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0169806/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kalmaku

Thank-you for correcting my mistake. There's a karma in it for you. Though, I must admit, I find the character far more memorable in the comic book than he was in the film.
Thank-you again for correcting my mistake.