Hello all. Long time since my last post. Just thought I'd post my review of the movie.
I saw it last night and it was the first showing in my country. Let me say first that I am a HUGE Green Lantern fan. I got hooked ever since the Rebirth story. When the movie was announced, it was like a dream to me - I never thought I'd see the day. I've been following the development of this movie very closely. I was happy about all the announcements - yes, including Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. I was also pretty interested in the choice of Martin Campbell as director - seeing that I enjoyed almost all of his movies, especially The Mask of Zorro.
I always thought that Green Lantern was a big opportunity to replicate the Star Wars phenomena in cinema if done right. This was DC's and Warner's opportunity to truly shine (no pun intended) and trigger their version of the movie DC Universe. Up until last week, everything seemed fine. I really expected that this was a sure hit. How could it not be? Everything seemed in place and just in the right order. They weren't cheap in the budget. They hired the right people. The production designs were too good to be true. Heck, they brought in Geoff Johns himself! Not to mention how many times they reiterated that they were staying true to the source material - and everything I've seen suggested that that was the case. Even when many fans criticized the special effects, I always gave them the benefit of the doubt and knew it was too early in the game.
But then the reviews started pouring in. Not even the "positive" ones sounded overly optimistic. Right then I started to worry. I'm a movie fan in general, so I knew that wasn't a good sign. Then I said to myself "maybe it's not a movie made for the critics to appreciate and at the very least, we - the fans - will enjoy it for what it is." I told myself going to the movie with low expectations would make me appreciate anything I see. I had to watch it. Been waiting for this day for years and I've been hyping it to family members, friends and colleagues. After all, it is a hard-selling concept, so much like Transformers, it won't be everyone's cup of tea. If I got anything like Transformers (even Transformers 2) I would have been fine with it.
Let me say I was VERY disappointed. My heart is actually broken. They kept on referencing Star Wars whenever they got the chance. They kept showing us alien designs to get us excited. They fooled us all. I can't trust what film makers say any more. Everything I love about the Green Lantern mythos is NOT in the movie. I don't know whom they were targeting with this project. I can't see it working on anyone. Not fans, not critics, not the general public and not even kids! It is that bad - I'm honest. A lot of people were worried about the special effects, but I thought it was fine. It is the least of the problems. When I criticize the movie, I'm criticizing the writing and the editing. There was absolutely no substance and not nearly enough action or exciting scenes. Too much is wasted on Earth on unnecessary characters no one care about. I don't even know why we needed the Senator and Amanda Waller in the story. Nothing made me care enough about the characters because they are not developed well. The love scenes feeled very forced.
So you see? They focused on earthly scenes when it should have been an outer-space movie, but even then, they failed to make an interesting plot. I don't know why they shied on showing more of Oa and the Corps members. I'm not joking when I say they revealed almost everything there is to show prior to the movie's release. That Corps members gathering scene they show in all the trailers? That's all you gonna see - good luck spotting them all! None of them said even a word. No dialogue whatsoever, no interaction, no bonding.. nothing! I don't even know why they had to use characters from the comics. The only ones that Hal interacts with are Sinestro, Tomar-Re and Kilowog, and it's not really much. Kilowog is only in two scenes and he says few words, that's it. I expected at least one scene with Boodikka, but she was nowhere to be found! I know it's supposed to be an origin story, but they could at least start developing the relationship between the characters for possible sequels. It's like they were throwing us - the fans - some bones to shut us up and then went back to tell the boringly stupid story. Don't think for a second that this was Secret Origins. We would have been lucky if it was. They spend a big deal explaining the concept to the viewers, but never let themselves make any use of it all. Did they fear it would be too much for the viewers? Why? You already explained that this is an intergalactic force that protects the universe, the viewers get it by now, so why not show them any of THAT? the Oa scenes were definitely the best - if only there was enough of it! I really enjoyed the training scenes but there wasn't enough.
Sorry about all that, just needed to get it out of my chest. All that waiting was for nothing. I wish they hadn't announced this project. Believe it, guys, it is as bad as it could get. I just wish they don't give up making DC movies. Frankly, they can easily fix everything in a sequel, but they HAVE to bring better writers.
, I've never heard this many conflicting reports. It's like every theater was given an entirely different film. What exactly is going on? There's no detailed general consensus in any review. Even the negative reviews list pros that other reviews have as negative, then vice-versa. How can Saarsgard be cringe worthy, yet steal the show? How can Reynolds be the saving grace, yet have a horrible performance? It's just, I'm unable to reach any detailed conclusion from any review basically.
