Green Lantern Review- Rants and Raves

Watching a movie is like reading a book. People will have different things to say about it, different levels of relatability to it, not to mention, affinity for the subject and whatever prose and subtexts the piece tries to convey. It’s either you like it or you don’t. Of if you are open enough, you try to walk the middle road, accept the piece of work as someone else’s vision and see how it applies to yours.


Watching Green Lantern for two straight days has certainly got me thinking and although at first blush my list of issues about the movie came flaring up with my fellow Green Lantern Corps cosplayers, but watching it a 2nd time last night after cosplaying for members of the press, I feel that I’ve finally am able to talk about it. (breathe calmly)

Off the bat, the movie certainly lived up to the flashy, special effects, slam bang explosive fare of a summer movie. You got the leading man played by handsome hunk, Ryan Reynolds doing the role of Hal Jordan, the cocky test pilot who gets to grow up and assume responsibility for his own life upon being bequeathed a power ring by a “dying purple alien” (Hal’s words not mine) named Abin Sur. He is thus joined by Gossip Girl starrer Blake Lively playing his leading lady and childhood friend Carol Ferris who runs the aircraft company Ferris Air where our hero works and gets much flying cred. Add to this lot, his best friend Tom Komalku who works with Hal in the company and shares knowledge of his secret being the Green Lantern.

Now since I mentioned alien, you know that there are more out there. And they are indeed many more as they are a Corps. Yes like a military outfit charged with protecting different sectors of the Universe. They, like Hal Jordan, each have a ring that is powered by their individual Lanterns and gives them the ability to enforce peace and justice by translating their thoughts into physical constructs. All colored green, of course. 

For the non-comic book reader, and first time initiate, the Green Lantern Corps in layman’s terms is an intergalactic peacekeeping force, or Space Cop group that follows orders from an immortal race of beings called the Guardians who are based on the Planet OA. They are responsible for channeling the use of Willpower as a power source thus the color green. With that preliminary intro out of the way, I would like to begin listing the issues I had with the movie, which would vary from casting, characterization and origin. So SPOILERS ahead, just so you know.


My GL movie issues:


1. Origin of the Big Bad- When I first found out that Parallax was the antagonist in this film, I thought that maybe they were going into it a little too fast and jumpstarting the whole franchise. As readers know, Parallax is a sentient being and the living embodiment of fear. It is represented by the color yellow and is the explanation why the Green Lantern’s ring never had any effect on yellow. Historically, it was only referred to as the impurity in the Lantern battery and its weakness. As Kryptonite was to superman with regards to making him ineffectual, Yellow was to the Green Lantern.

 My issue was that Parallax although was referred to an emotion that willpower was trying to overcome, it was also referred to as a power source and only was thus named Parallax after a lone Guardian, naïve as he was, tried to take on that source and bonded with it. That’s why when we are introduced to it at the beginning of the film, the imprisoned entity resembled that of a Guardian, who till end of the film is not named.

2. Hal and Carol – When Ryan was casted, I thought that he wasn’t the ideal guy to potray Hal Jordan simply because he was already slated to do a movie adaptation of the Marvel character, Deadpool, after winning audiences with his take on the role via the Wolverine movie, a prequel to the X-men movies. Fans had another person in mind. Devotees made videos on YouTube using scenes from the tv series, Firefly that starred, Nathan Fillion, who for me physically looks like Hal Jordan more and he himself is a confessed GL fan. 


But hey, I’m not a casting director so what do I know. So after accepting the Ryan casting, Carol Ferris was next. I don’t watch Gossip Girl so have no gauge why Blake Lively was chosen and had to wait for the movie. But after watching, they could have chosen someone with sharper and edgier looks and tough on the inside and out. Didn’t get that with her. What I didn’t like was the Superman-balcony-Lois Lane-esque scene that Hal had with Carol after saving her life and most of us who watched it groaned in reference to that. For non readers and casual movie goers, it’s just a scene that needed to establish and further heighten the relationship that Hal and Carol have. But for me it struck too close to the Superman and Lois dating sequences. And since most of us reacted that way, perhaps others would too. And groan in disgust as the scene plays out.


After the movie, some of us had issues about Blake’s acting prowess as well. She only has one gameface on regardless of the emotional complexity the scene requires. But it’s not for me to say, it’s for you to gauge for yourself.


 3. Oa and Poozer sessions – I have no real issue with Oa with it being beautifully rendered as it was only except that I wanted more. I wanted to be awed in a wave that comes and ebbs and peaks for me the way when I first saw Asgard when Thor came out. Add to that a sweeping score that complements the wave of images you see on screen. Alas I didn’t get when James Newton Howard’s score accompanied the tour that Tomar-Re gave Hal Jordan through Oa. I take it that they were flying but as one bringing an alien planet to life for the first time for readers and non-readers alike, we wanted to be really toured and not just given the general pamphlet guide.

Of course, while in Oa no official tour is to be taken as you are too busy to be trained as a Lantern by official drill sergeant, Kilowog who in the film was voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan.  Audiences would remember him as portraying Kingpin in the film version of Daredevil. I expected a different actor to be doing the voice of Kilowog as all I heard was Kingpin egging Hal Jordan on in training and not making it any easier for him. Not that training should be all work and no fun, but the Kilowog we know in his own way makes it so, by being all Bark but with no Bite. He’s a professional who takes his job seriously and during downtime, is the sweetest thing you can talk to and bond with. So lesser training time with Kilowog makes viewer wanting more. Hopefully more in the sequel. Yes, I am hoping for error correcting.

 4. Harnessing the Power – As mentioned, Green is the color of willpower and yellow is for Fear. We also know that the Guardians have always shunned emotion and therefore are not open to explore any other color and emotion other than their spectrum. But as suggested and as a recourse option to save Oa, Sinestro suggests that they harness that power source and use the power of the enemy against them. Yes, it’s the same Boromir thinking in Lord of the Rings and use the One Ring against Sauron and that was his undoing. As for Sinestro, you know that you can’t kill him as we see something else of him that dies and he’s Hal’s foil, so no can do. But once more, Sinestro doesn’t get to harness the Yellow power this early on but only after he was banished to the planet Qward following Hal revealing him to be abusing his Green Lantern powers in his own planet of Korugar. But hey, I’m not the scriptwriter, but just a blogging fan.

With all that I’ve ranted so far being a fan, there were still some points where the movie I felt did well; First of all, the imaginative way of creating the constructs for both Hal Jordan and the other Lanterns. As the essence of the ring, is to take whatever the mind of the wearer conjures up, the physical representation of that image is only as imaginative as the wearer and so far from swords that Hal brandishes as he spot trains with Sinestro, to metal frames supporting the boulders that Kilowog tries to pin him down with and the two F-fighter planes Hal creates in the final climax of the film, the constructs I must say were done well. 

Although others went as far as noting that Hal’s constructs were more military oriented like John Stewart; the other Green Lantern of Earth after Hal became incapacitated, but as a whole, I really am good with how the constructs were.

The next thing I liked about it was the choice of Geoffrey Rush to provide the voice of Tomar-Re; the fish-like Lantern of Sector 2813 who was in charge of welcoming Hal Jordan to Oa and his new life. Geoffrey also provided the narrative voice at the beginning of the film, which showed a history of the Corps and who they are. That was brilliant and more Tomar-Re I say. After seeing Tomar-Re, other Lanterns who had me geek out with their appearance were Boodkika, Stel, the round Lantern with tentacles for feet, Apros, and the Lantern that looked like a fly named Bzzzd. 

The casting of Mark Strong as Sinestro certainly also was a good choice as Mark is a character actor and like my other favorite actor, Kevin Spacey, he does the job right. Whenever he is on, he draws the attention to him, much like his comic book counterpart. Now will we see how he becomes the rogue Lantern and later the villain that he is now, commanding his own Corps under a different shade? Well, just wait till the credits and you will be rewarded. 

At this point, my rants are outnumbering my raves as if I were putting the movie down. I am not. On the contrary, it is because I am a fan that it pains me to see these inconsistencies and deviations in the film that were not taken into consideration. Had the director been a fan, like Peter Jackson to the Tolkien trilogy, would the movie have been different and more faithful to the source material? No doubt about that. Being a fan, he would be able to incorporate these nuances and milk the source material for what it can give credence and credibility to the movie, at the same time pleasing fans and earning new ones. Martin Campbell may have directed a Bond film but for that film he came into an already existing and established franchise. Green Lantern, on the other hand, is just getting the much needed boost and attention it mostly deserves. Along with that, should they have gotten Geoff Johns to write or if not, co-write the material like what Marvel did with Thor who had J. Michael Strazynski doing the story? Hell, yeah! 

But still I urge you to still watch the movie for yourself, not to see how the rants I mentioned were played out but to just enjoy the ride of losing yourself in a summer movie filled with effects, aliens and a human striving to be more than who he is and discovering who he can be. Hmmm, much like some of the lives we lead. So chuck your weekend plans and go take a visit to Oa and like me although you may wish for something more, I know you would be at least relieved that this character finally has his own movie, alongside fellow Justice League members, Superman and Batman. Oh and Wonder Woman whose kitsch 70’s series still is the benchmark.

Green may be the color of will but it is also the color of fertility and abundance. I hope the movie earns tons so that the bigwigs can go back, re-asses and give it a better and second push. In short, give us Sinestro Corps War and...and...ah….Blackest Night? 

But like the Lanterns and any other who knows his duty, my duty is to the Corps, no matter what, inconsistencies, miscasts or whatever. I am still a reader, a follower, a person of will and yes….a Lantern…forever! Let's Go Poozers!