The official Green Lantern movie thread

[Dusty]

Bleeding Cool and Comics Alliance liked it, and Ebert said he enjoyed it more than Thor.

So, there's that.

[Rob]

Ebert has a unique perspective among critics, in that he can go into a movie that's meant to be a fun popcorn movie and judge it as such, rather than judging it on the same scale he'd judge something like Schindler's List or The King's Speech.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

He also has the ability to forget to do that and just decide he's got an axe to grind with a particular movie and proceed accordingly, like THOR.

[Dusty]

Yeah, to be fair, his review of Thor was completely nonsensical.

[Dusty]

Alright, Newsarama and CBR were pretty kind to it too.

Starting to feel like this might not be a horrible night that kills the 9 year old version of me.

[Rust]

Everything I've heard is that fans of the comic book will be pleased, but it does alienate non-fans a bit. Really couldn't be any other way, given all the stuff that's crammed into the previews.

[Dusty]

I have seen it.

Let's just start with the prerequisite: I am a total fanboy for this property. This is the comic that captured my imagination when I was 8 or 9 years old and introduced me to a world of superheroes I was largely unaware of. This was the comic that fully brought me back into comic fandom in my twenties. Hal Jordan is my favorite superhero. I've dreamed of this property becoming a movie for a long, long time.

I was hesitant at Ryan Reynolds' casting. I was mildly concerned after the first trailer. I was properly freaked right the fuck out after the critics reviews came out a couple days ago. I was legitimately concerned the 9 year old Dusty was gonna cry himself to sleep tonight, like so many Fantastic Four and Ghost Rider fans certainly have in the past. So, I was quite nervous when I sat down in that theater full of green t-shirts.





















That. Was. AWESOME.

Fuck all 79 of the critics that panned it right in the ear. That was GREEN LANTERN brought to life, plain and simple.

Reynolds nailed it. He is one charismatic fucker. The humor worked, it was never over the top. He was cocky and witty, yet vulnerable enough to convey the humanity necessary.

Mark Strong is a pitch perfect Sinestro. He's got that sneering, superior air about him, yet still comes off as a badass.

Peter Sarsgaard was creepy as hell as Hector Hammond. He did go pretty over the top near the end, but you probably would too if a fear monster was burrowing into your brain.

Blake Lively was perfectly serviceable as Carol Ferris. That was a pretty thankless part, but she did fine with what she had.

The effect work was TREMENDOUS. The suit/mask was never distracting. Parallax was pretty gruesome looking (and maybe it was just me, but it sure seemed like Clancy Brown was channeling his inner Unicron for that voice). Oa was stunning. The Guardians are still pricks. Kilowog (in what was more or less an extended cameo) was great.

I'm not deluded enough to think it was perfect. It's too short. Too much stuff happens too quickly. I imagine the average person who has no knowledge of this concept might have trouble keeping up. Also, the opening prologue seems superfluous. It's kind of a stilted way to start the movie, and I don't even think it was necessary. Everything that it laid out was explained pretty plainly as the movie progressed. The flashback to how Hal's dad died would probably have been a better way to open the movie (and the way that was shown was kind of awkward).

I went with a friend who is not a Green Lantern fan, but is a big time cinephile. He read the reviews and was expecting a trainwreck. When it was over the first thing he said to me was "how is THAT at 20% on Rotten Tomatoes?" He said he thought it was the equal of Thor. I think that's about right.

You have no idea how relieved/excited I am. Now I just hope it makes a ton of money this weekend.

[LLcruize]

Good to hear you were not let down. I know how you feel. Me and two other people in the whole state probably enjoyed Sucker Punch, but it was fun to have anticipation for a film and it not let you down. So I am glad to know your inner child wasn't destroyed. I will be giving this a view later in the summer and will go into it expecting a fun time.

BTW, as I predicted, after everyone else over at AICN hated on the film, Harry posted his review finally this morning and he enjoyed it. LOL, man is it scary that a site is that predictable with their reviews?

[Akitsu]

Told ya, the victim of overhype. People were simply expecting a lot more than what they got, and that blinded them to how good it actually is. Happens quite often really... makes me wonder how critics manage to lose their objectivity so easily. 20%... pffft.

As for Ebert's thrashing of Thor, I got the feeling that was because Thor is an actual mythic figure from which he could look upon the history and be disappointed with the liberties Marvel put on it. (That said, he should have judged it more as a comic book character coming to life, and not some weird version of a Norse legend)

Not gonna get a chance to see it till Monday probably... but at least now I'm not as worried.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

Excellent! Since you like it Dusty, I can almost guarantee that I will.

[Vicious]

I have seen it.

Let's just start with the prerequisite: I am a total fanboy for this property. This is the comic that captured my imagination when I was 8 or 9 years old and introduced me to a world of superheroes I was largely unaware of. This was the comic that fully brought me back into comic fandom in my twenties. Hal Jordan is my favorite superhero. I've dreamed of this property becoming a movie for a long, long time.

I was hesitant at Ryan Reynolds' casting. I was mildly concerned after the first trailer. I was properly freaked right the fuck out after the critics reviews came out a couple days ago. I was legitimately concerned the 9 year old Dusty was gonna cry himself to sleep tonight, like so many Fantastic Four and Ghost Rider fans certainly have in the past. So, I was quite nervous when I sat down in that theater full of green t-shirts.





















That. Was. AWESOME.

Fuck all 79 of the critics that panned it right in the ear. That was GREEN LANTERN brought to life, plain and simple.

Reynolds nailed it. He is one charismatic fucker. The humor worked, it was never over the top. He was cocky and witty, yet vulnerable enough to convey the humanity necessary.

Mark Strong is a pitch perfect Sinestro. He's got that sneering, superior air about him, yet still comes off as a badass.

Peter Sarsgaard was creepy as hell as Hector Hammond. He did go pretty over the top near the end, but you probably would too if a fear monster was burrowing into your brain.

Blake Lively was perfectly serviceable as Carol Ferris. That was a pretty thankless part, but she did fine with what she had.

The effect work was TREMENDOUS. The suit/mask was never distracting. Parallax was pretty gruesome looking (and maybe it was just me, but it sure seemed like Clancy Brown was channeling his inner Unicron for that voice). Oa was stunning. The Guardians are still pricks. Kilowog (in what was more or less an extended cameo) was great.

I'm not deluded enough to think it was perfect. It's too short. Too much stuff happens too quickly. I imagine the average person who has no knowledge of this concept might have trouble keeping up. Also, the opening prologue seems superfluous. It's kind of a stilted way to start the movie, and I don't even think it was necessary. Everything that it laid out was explained pretty plainly as the movie progressed. The flashback to how Hal's dad died would probably have been a better way to open the movie (and the way that was shown was kind of awkward).

I went with a friend who is not a Green Lantern fan, but is a big time cinephile. He read the reviews and was expecting a trainwreck. When it was over the first thing he said to me was "how is THAT at 20% on Rotten Tomatoes?" He said he thought it was the equal of Thor. I think that's about right.

You have no idea how relieved/excited I am. Now I just hope it makes a ton of money this weekend.

Excellent. I'm glad you liked it. I have no idea if/when I'll get to see it, but as someone else who would love to see his favorite fanboy property on the silver screen, I am behind your excitement for this one.

[Dusty]

It made $3.35 million at midnight showings, which is slightly better than what Thor and First Class did.

[LLcruize]

BoM is saying that is just under First Class and just over Thor midnight screenings, so they have revised their weekend forecast and are saying 59 million weekend. Much better forecast than the 35 they were saying a few weeks back. If it does that or better, should help to get back the 150 million production budget.

[Dusty]

Deadline Hollywood is estimating $24 million for Friday and $60+ million for the weekend. It's got a shot at matching Thor.

[awa64]

If it does that or better, should help to get back the 150 million production budget.

They'll have a ways to go on the other ~150 million they spent advertising it, though.