Green Lantern Movie Reviewed
As I stumbled into the darkened cinema halls, a little over a couple of minutes when the Green Lantern mire (in 2D) started being projected unto the silver screen, a quick background explanation was going on, to get the audience up to speed with what's going on with the Green Lantern Corp, the Guardians on Oa, and yes, smoke-on-sewage-water Parallax - which I thought was a clever and much needed exposition that needed to be, to let folks in on the deal soonest, which seems to be the order of the day, when eventually Hal's identity is not exactly keep to secret - well, it is, but it isn't. The instant recognition of who it actually was under the mask, was to me, one of the absolutely most hilarious thing about superheroes I've seen on any media, and making the most sense to folks who have debated about supreheroes and their "secret identities", and why everyone around them are "blind" (as "blind" as K-dramas, as the person being talked about is literally a few feet away, but somehow folks never seem to notice each other), but yes, I got ahead of myself here …
WHAT-IS: Green Lantern sees the unveiling of an intergalactic force who weld the power of being able to manifest their imagination into real constructs, to help them quell problems in their own respective designated space-sectors in the galaxy. Then a dude Abin Sur (who protects the Earth, altho we never did see him ever appearing) got attacked by the very monster he imprisoned before, named Parallax, and ran like a scared little girl to go towards Earth, to search for a worthy successor to his Power Ring. And Power Battery. Then the dying power ring searches and discovers cocky-test pilot Hal Jordan and grants him powers beyond irresponsible men and mortaldom, because like, the ring is clairvoyant-ish and can see his strength when even he and his folks around him cannot. Parallax than comes to Earth to attempt to destroy it, because he thought he can. And then there was Hector Hammond. And Sinestro chewed the space-scenery. And Carol is a babe and is hawt. And yeah, I think I should stop with the plot-summary…
IMDb has the dilly-O: "A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe."
[Early promo posters, circa 2010]
As a piece of cinematic offering, film-purists would be up in arms about this movie. Plot-holes galore the size of mini-blackholes, highly questionable character-arches - frankly leaves a tad aftertaste of sourness in the mouth. But as a popcorn flick and a nerd-off to the comicbooks, this was a slice of geek-heaven made green.
The seemingly throwaway references were a swell touch to the film (most prominently effective if you read the comicbooks, truth be told) - like the familiarity to Hal's airborne-callsign, and do pay particular attention to Carol's. The insignia of the Green Lanterns - brazen present on Hal's and every other Corp-member's chest, was balanced ever so sweetly with the emergence of the "other" creation of a future threat. The ultimate nod to me, was after the initial key roller credit-run (when the movie ended_, the distinctive uniform which appeared, and it's signature color on the wearer's uniform = would have any comicbook-fan in silent gasps - I know I did! (Sadly, that was the highlight if the film for me LOL).
Truth be told, I am not a huge fan of "Hal Jordan", but my particular fondness of the Green Lantern-lore were dedicated to the more recent re-emergence, when the Green Lantern Corp comics were started and continued, with the creation of the Sinestro Corps and eventual war being a huge part of why I loved the GL-comicbooks as much as I did, and do. And frankly, Carol was as one-dimensional for me, as was Hal, in the comicbooks. I could only feel for him, when his "guilt" - as his actions as "Parallax" before - gutted him from within, post-Parallax (read the comics, I cannot explain it all that might be worth reading about lol). Yes, a man and his wish-fulfilling ring, that makes everything shiny-green.
Kudos for actor Ryan Reynolds, for making me able to "like"him and his smart-mouth (and not "smart-ass") role in this movie - hardly the man in the comics I remember. His ernest buffoonery worked out well in this respect (ironically, he is ALWAYS the same as he has been, in whatever role he has taken before, mind you -respect coz he married Scarlet Johanssen - but they're getting a divorce, soooo….). But he worked well as Hal here, in fact, I would love to see him in a sequel and soon.
How he could ever stand beside a Christian Bale-Batman and even Superman, is beyond my imagination tho. Of that I am not wholly excited about, frankly speaking. Anyways….
A surprise for me personally, turned out to be Blake Lively as "Carol Fenris". But instead of just being a pretty face on set (ah oh but is she attractive *cough*), she had oomph, she had gumption, and she actually carried her own = Well done! And she will indeed be a force to be reckoned with, if ever the sequels have her being infected by … nah, that'll be giving it away, wouldn't it? Folks who read the comicbooks will know what I mean, especially with her pilot-callsign being possibly a harbinger of things-might-come!
I still could not fantom the role of Peter Sarsgaard as "Hector Hammond", which in turn at the final confrontation - reminded me of a not-thinly-veiled relationship between Transformers' Starscream and Megatron? Dude? Even just as a casual glance, he was there simply to perpetrate evil-doing, so Hal could counter and battle them, and come out looking like a hero - simply because causing the destruction of an intergalactic threat could not make him a hero enough, he needs to face a earth-bound threat? Dude. Give The Leader some respect here, c'mon!
And that's about it really. Everyone else "human"-wise, was utilitarian at best, to help the plot go forward, and frankly, you needn't give a gee-whiz about them much, IMHO. But maybe an Amanda "The Wall" Waller (played by Angela Bassett) would have been a swell quest-spot - turned out to be memorable for her sucking glass-panel for some time in her debut role …. so "sorry", actor-folks! Moving On…
Ah, the Green Lanterns. Without going into details, Sinestro was without a doubt the strongest role and presence of the group, with him fulfilling his role at the end of the film being the best part of the film (yes, I said it twice), was sheer awesomeness!
Kilowog (voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan - remember him? "The Kingpin" in Daredevil?) disgusted me quite a bit - no offense, but they made him more Afircan-American than I would have given credit for (him mouthing off "poozers" was a tad offensive to me). More "streetwise" than "galactic-wise", he was the single most offensive aspect of the film, at least for me personally.
Tomar-Re studied and lived in the United Kingdom for a while before he was called to service for the Corp … oh, you mean he wasn't? I could sworn… must have been Geoffrey Rush's voice-over … anyways …. best part of Oa, besides Sinestro, were the Guardians and their long flowy-robes - so galaxy-mountain-Zen! Kudos for the scriptwriters and director for not making them sit cross-legged and floating in mid-air tho!
Director Martin Campbell had a winner with his revitalization with James Bond in "Casino Royale", and I heart him for it. But to compare Green Lantern to that, is simple foolishness. Even with a fictional secret agent, Martin still needed to ground him in reality - which worked wonders and revitalized the genre (along with Jason Bourne etc) - but a dude with a green ring that he uses to make hard-constructs, and can fly? And an entire planet of different alien races bearing the same power? That is as grounded in reality as my dream to make it to the top of the blog-world in this lifetime or the next!
And I find myself thinking "what constructs is he going to do next?" versus "how the hell did he do that?" - as I watched this film, and that to me, was a good thing. Or perhaps I have been spoilt by the explanations of "Midi-chlorians" in the Star Wars prequels - to forever shatter my conceptions and questions about The Force, witnessed in awe in the first three true Star Wars-lore - to care any more than what was presented and sold as "fact", before me.
We've seen a whole lot of the fantastical manifest themselves at your nearest teasers, trailers and TV Spots, so frankly, there's not much more surprises going on in the movie (so I do advice you NOT to watch the promos ANYMORE if you plan to watch the movie), but if you want something to enjoy while munching on your popcorn (I guiltily had salted), and you feel the need to leave your filmmaker-auteur-badge of honor at home as you venture out to the movies with the masses, then this is a swell movie to go to, IMO. But don't be leaving your brains and mind at home tho, cause you'll still need to see the plot-holes and story-faux-pas, to solidify your comicbook-cred amongst your mates and loved ones, yeah?
I want a Carol Fenris Barbie now actually.
[Above: Carol Fenris Doll @ WonderCon]
WHAT-IS: Green Lantern sees the unveiling of an intergalactic force who weld the power of being able to manifest their imagination into real constructs, to help them quell problems in their own respective designated space-sectors in the galaxy. Then a dude Abin Sur (who protects the Earth, altho we never did see him ever appearing) got attacked by the very monster he imprisoned before, named Parallax, and ran like a scared little girl to go towards Earth, to search for a worthy successor to his Power Ring. And Power Battery. Then the dying power ring searches and discovers cocky-test pilot Hal Jordan and grants him powers beyond irresponsible men and mortaldom, because like, the ring is clairvoyant-ish and can see his strength when even he and his folks around him cannot. Parallax than comes to Earth to attempt to destroy it, because he thought he can. And then there was Hector Hammond. And Sinestro chewed the space-scenery. And Carol is a babe and is hawt. And yeah, I think I should stop with the plot-summary…
IMDb has the dilly-O: "A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe."
[Early promo posters, circa 2010]
As a piece of cinematic offering, film-purists would be up in arms about this movie. Plot-holes galore the size of mini-blackholes, highly questionable character-arches - frankly leaves a tad aftertaste of sourness in the mouth. But as a popcorn flick and a nerd-off to the comicbooks, this was a slice of geek-heaven made green.
The seemingly throwaway references were a swell touch to the film (most prominently effective if you read the comicbooks, truth be told) - like the familiarity to Hal's airborne-callsign, and do pay particular attention to Carol's. The insignia of the Green Lanterns - brazen present on Hal's and every other Corp-member's chest, was balanced ever so sweetly with the emergence of the "other" creation of a future threat. The ultimate nod to me, was after the initial key roller credit-run (when the movie ended_, the distinctive uniform which appeared, and it's signature color on the wearer's uniform = would have any comicbook-fan in silent gasps - I know I did! (Sadly, that was the highlight if the film for me LOL).
Truth be told, I am not a huge fan of "Hal Jordan", but my particular fondness of the Green Lantern-lore were dedicated to the more recent re-emergence, when the Green Lantern Corp comics were started and continued, with the creation of the Sinestro Corps and eventual war being a huge part of why I loved the GL-comicbooks as much as I did, and do. And frankly, Carol was as one-dimensional for me, as was Hal, in the comicbooks. I could only feel for him, when his "guilt" - as his actions as "Parallax" before - gutted him from within, post-Parallax (read the comics, I cannot explain it all that might be worth reading about lol). Yes, a man and his wish-fulfilling ring, that makes everything shiny-green.
Kudos for actor Ryan Reynolds, for making me able to "like"him and his smart-mouth (and not "smart-ass") role in this movie - hardly the man in the comics I remember. His ernest buffoonery worked out well in this respect (ironically, he is ALWAYS the same as he has been, in whatever role he has taken before, mind you -respect coz he married Scarlet Johanssen - but they're getting a divorce, soooo….). But he worked well as Hal here, in fact, I would love to see him in a sequel and soon.
How he could ever stand beside a Christian Bale-Batman and even Superman, is beyond my imagination tho. Of that I am not wholly excited about, frankly speaking. Anyways….
A surprise for me personally, turned out to be Blake Lively as "Carol Fenris". But instead of just being a pretty face on set (ah oh but is she attractive *cough*), she had oomph, she had gumption, and she actually carried her own = Well done! And she will indeed be a force to be reckoned with, if ever the sequels have her being infected by … nah, that'll be giving it away, wouldn't it? Folks who read the comicbooks will know what I mean, especially with her pilot-callsign being possibly a harbinger of things-might-come!
I still could not fantom the role of Peter Sarsgaard as "Hector Hammond", which in turn at the final confrontation - reminded me of a not-thinly-veiled relationship between Transformers' Starscream and Megatron? Dude? Even just as a casual glance, he was there simply to perpetrate evil-doing, so Hal could counter and battle them, and come out looking like a hero - simply because causing the destruction of an intergalactic threat could not make him a hero enough, he needs to face a earth-bound threat? Dude. Give The Leader some respect here, c'mon!
And that's about it really. Everyone else "human"-wise, was utilitarian at best, to help the plot go forward, and frankly, you needn't give a gee-whiz about them much, IMHO. But maybe an Amanda "The Wall" Waller (played by Angela Bassett) would have been a swell quest-spot - turned out to be memorable for her sucking glass-panel for some time in her debut role …. so "sorry", actor-folks! Moving On…
Ah, the Green Lanterns. Without going into details, Sinestro was without a doubt the strongest role and presence of the group, with him fulfilling his role at the end of the film being the best part of the film (yes, I said it twice), was sheer awesomeness!
Kilowog (voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan - remember him? "The Kingpin" in Daredevil?) disgusted me quite a bit - no offense, but they made him more Afircan-American than I would have given credit for (him mouthing off "poozers" was a tad offensive to me). More "streetwise" than "galactic-wise", he was the single most offensive aspect of the film, at least for me personally.
Tomar-Re studied and lived in the United Kingdom for a while before he was called to service for the Corp … oh, you mean he wasn't? I could sworn… must have been Geoffrey Rush's voice-over … anyways …. best part of Oa, besides Sinestro, were the Guardians and their long flowy-robes - so galaxy-mountain-Zen! Kudos for the scriptwriters and director for not making them sit cross-legged and floating in mid-air tho!
Director Martin Campbell had a winner with his revitalization with James Bond in "Casino Royale", and I heart him for it. But to compare Green Lantern to that, is simple foolishness. Even with a fictional secret agent, Martin still needed to ground him in reality - which worked wonders and revitalized the genre (along with Jason Bourne etc) - but a dude with a green ring that he uses to make hard-constructs, and can fly? And an entire planet of different alien races bearing the same power? That is as grounded in reality as my dream to make it to the top of the blog-world in this lifetime or the next!
And I find myself thinking "what constructs is he going to do next?" versus "how the hell did he do that?" - as I watched this film, and that to me, was a good thing. Or perhaps I have been spoilt by the explanations of "Midi-chlorians" in the Star Wars prequels - to forever shatter my conceptions and questions about The Force, witnessed in awe in the first three true Star Wars-lore - to care any more than what was presented and sold as "fact", before me.
We've seen a whole lot of the fantastical manifest themselves at your nearest teasers, trailers and TV Spots, so frankly, there's not much more surprises going on in the movie (so I do advice you NOT to watch the promos ANYMORE if you plan to watch the movie), but if you want something to enjoy while munching on your popcorn (I guiltily had salted), and you feel the need to leave your filmmaker-auteur-badge of honor at home as you venture out to the movies with the masses, then this is a swell movie to go to, IMO. But don't be leaving your brains and mind at home tho, cause you'll still need to see the plot-holes and story-faux-pas, to solidify your comicbook-cred amongst your mates and loved ones, yeah?
I want a Carol Fenris Barbie now actually.
[Above: Carol Fenris Doll @ WonderCon]
