Green Lantern (Movie)
Reviewed by Wally Flores Jr.

Since the announcement of the Green Lantern movie I have been very cautious. I am a big fan of the concept and mythos of Green Lantern. While I identify the most with Kyle Rayner, I grew up with Hal Jordan. Hal was on 'Super Friends' and he is the origin point of my fascination with Green Lantern. To me, the concept and character had to be handled properly in the movie. Unlike some people I don't expect a movie about a comic book related concept to be exact. In my opinion, anyone who does is a fool and if they were at the helm of such a movie they would likely lead the charge in the properties being poison at the box office. Movies are not comic books. The mediums are different, the writing styles are different and the audiences are different (with crossover). Of course having this view is helped by the fact that I'm a big fan of movies in general. I can watch a movie and read its comic book adaptation and appreciate the similarities and differences. However, I knew from the start that I was going to have a problem checking my bias regarding the concept of Green Lantern (and Hal Jordan) at the door of the theater. It didn't help that I initially despised the design of Hal's uniform. As time went on and more trailers were released I became less resistant to the uniform design. I still didn't like it, but I was learning to accept it. I was also fine with Ryan Reynolds being cast as Hal Jordan. I think he looks like many artists' renditions of him and I like Ryan Reynolds in general (so I'm biased there). The question was though, what would I think of the movie? I'm going to give a spoiler-free review (information available via trailers and toys will be included). I'll then follow that up with a more detailed and spoiler-heavy discussion of things. Movie Review Unlike some, I'm going to tell you right from the start my general impression of the movie. It's average. I don't think it's as bad as some think it is, but it's not a high-quality movie. A friend recently asked via Facebook if they should see 'X-Men: First Class' or 'Green Lantern'. I replied that they should see 'X-Men' as it was a better movie overall, and that 'Green Lantern' was average. The response from another friend was, "If Wally says, 'X-Men'...see 'X-Men'." They all know I'm a Green Lantern freak (I regularly post things I have and am going to buy that are Green Lantern related), so me saying that after seeing the movie twice carried some weight. Also, I saw the midnight show of 'Green Lantern' and saw it a second time because my local comic shop rigged up another midnight screening for comic shop customers only (there are advantages to living in a small town). So, that was my take after two viewings. What is it about 'Green Lantern' that gave me the impression that it was average? Well, to be honest it may have been unavoidable. Unlike many other characters in DC (or Marvel), you can't just give Hal's history growing up. While that establishes much of whom Hal is as a person, it doesn't establish who he is as a Green Lantern. However, who he is as a person is what leads to him becoming a Green Lantern. Then there is the growth of him as a Green Lantern. Batman, Superman, and even Wonder Woman grew to become who they are. When you tell the tale of them becoming a super hero there is a consistent flow, or growth. One becomes the next. That doesn't work for Hal Jordan. Hal Jordan's history makes him a pilot. His history doesn't make him a Green Lantern. So, you have to tell the story of Hal Jordan the pilot first. After you've done that you lay the groundwork for why he was chosen to be a Green Lantern. Then, you can show him gaining the ring and becoming a Green Lantern. After that you can show him learning what it means to be a Green Lantern (it's different from being a pilot), and after that you can explore the idea of him becoming a great (if not the greatest) Green Lantern. From what I've just stated you can see that there is a whole lot to cover for Hal Jordan. If I were to pull out parts myself, I would have focused on Hal's personal history (invest in the character), him being chosen (the birth of his super hero identity), and him training (connect with him truly becoming the Green Lantern of Sector 2814). The movie doesn't do this. It gives a small taste of his personal history, skims his training, and lightly touches on his acceptance of his duty as a Green Lantern. The reason being, that they added the elements of Hector Hammond and Parralax. Why? Simple. Big-budget special effects! So much to cover, and it's all covered marginally. The result? An average movie. The way it was designed simply had no place for any element to stand out, other than the effects. While those effects are great, they mostly happen on an individual scale. I'm talking about the suits, the constructs, the travel and the battles. They are not impressive or epic, they are purposeful. That's fine, but not when you're pushing the effects in your trailers. There are a number of characters throughout the movie, but it's just too heavy. Again, as with the story having too many elements there are too many characters and that ends up with all having little (if any) development. The Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris story is important in my opinion. It's a long running element to Hal Jordan's life. The character of Tom is fine as Hal's sidekick, but overall the character could have been eliminated beyond his initial scene. While Hector Hammond is overall the most interesting character in the movie, that creates a problem. In case you didn't figure it out, that would be that the lead character is NOT the most interesting character in the movie. It's great to have an intriguing villain, but don't make them more interesting than the main character. That's just not wise. All the other characters are there to move the story forward. Sinestro is imposing (and Mark Strong owns the role), but we don't really get to know him, and the inclusion of the character Amanda Waller is nice, but largely wasted (I'll say why later). I should also mention the largest frustration for me as a Green Lantern fan. That was that this movie was very basic. There were small nods to established comic fans (I'll mention what they are later), but the movie was very much more for the new folks. You see, the movie is "Green Lantern 101". Me? I'm in the Green Lantern advanced theoretical classes. Now, this doesn't mean I think they should have catered to me? Far from it. What I mean by this is that there is a certain level of inherent "boredom" that comes with being educated on what you already know, especially if it's happening for the duration of a movie. Sure, I get the movie's take on the mythos, but for the most part...it's stuff I already know. Some level of boredom is simply likely. So, with all that being said I will also add a bit more. The 3D is nice when it comes to CGI scenes, but when it comes to regular footage it suffers the same problems as many other retrofitted movie, and that is that you have a bit of a blurring effect and different "flat" layers. You can watch it in 3D if you want, but you don't have to. I don't think it's going to add to the experience. The musical score for the movie is also a problem. It's not interesting in the least. Frankly, I think James Newton Howard phoned it in. Usually I enjoy his scores, but this one was definitely not up to par. I'll only be buying it because of the Green Lantern collecting factor. I'll listen to maybe two tracks, and one of those is the oath. Finally, I will state that I will be buying the movie when it comes out. I'll be buying it on Blu-ray and I'll be buying the more expensive edition. That's me supporting the concept and being able to see Hal in a live-action format when I want. Now on to the discussion (with spoilers). Movie Discussion Now, while I do believe this movie is average I am hoping that if they can somehow get approved for a sequel (or two) we could really be seeing something special. Now that the groundwork has been laid the next two movies could really open up into a space epic if they want. I'm actually seeing it as a "reverse" 'Matrix'. You know how the original 'Matrix' was incredible and then the next two movies got a little less interesting? As they lost the elements that made the first so interesting and started to backfill the story of what was "really" going on, the movies just lost a lot of their impact. Sequels for 'Green Lantern' don't have to worry about that now. As I said, the groundwork has been done. The next movie could easily be the fall of Sinestro. The Green Lantern Corps finds out what is really going on in his sector (likely discovered by Hal) and a confrontation ensues. A bit could be on Earth even, just to keep some connection on that level. The end could be Sinestro vowing revenge. That would leave a third movie open to the "Sinestro Corps War". I figure it would be primarily in space, with little time (if any) on Earth. Heck, they could even bring in John Stewart, Guy Gardner (whose existence was confirmed in the Hal Jordan movie prequel comic) and Kyle Rayner with a blurb at the start of the movie that due to the upcoming battle some sectors were allowed to recruit extra Lanterns (or maybe just Hal). So, I still have faith for what could come. I just don't have a lot of faith that the chance for it to exist is still there. What about the bits for the fans? Well, there were a few that I picked up on, or I may have imagined. We have the movie starting on Ryut, which shows an acknowledgement of events since Geoff Johns brought Hal Jordan back to life. Also, I believe that the backpacks on the aliens that crash on Ryut appear to light up with the design of a Red Lantern symbol. I may have been imagining that though. There is also Carol Ferris' callsign being "Sapphire". Plus, not only is the name on one side of her helmet, but the symbol of the Star Sapphires is on the other side of her helmet. Also, while we see lots of Green Lanterns on Oa, but we don't learn any names other than of those who train Hal. The character of Amanda Waller could be very important if DC wanted to tie their movies together. Even Angel Bassett said herself she would like to see the character be the DC movies' equivalent of Nick Fury for the Marvel movies. An excellent idea, but it wasn't really established too strongly if that was in any way a plan. More needed to be revealed about Waller for that to be the case. More is revealed about her in the Abin Sur movie prequel comic, but there is still a large gap of information that would need to be brought out. Plus, if they were to go along the idea of the "Sinestro Corps War" or another major event (I don't see "Blackest Night" happening), then the inclusion of Waller in 'Green Lantern' just amounts to another familiar DC character being thrown into the movie. Finally, there are certain elements of the movie that make me wonder. While we find out how the aliens that crash on Ryut crash there in the Tomar-Re movie prequel comic, there are things that happen in the comic that raise more questions. Also, I still cannot figure out how Parallax found Abin Sur in the movie. If he sensed his ring, then he would have been able to track down Hal much earlier. Also, how did he know Abin Sur was dead? If going after Hal just because he wore Abin's ring was enough to make Parallax alter his course to Oa, then you would think he would have gone after Abin just to be sure he was dead, or to attempt to capture his ring. As a former Guardian he knew the ring would replace him if he died. Plus, he was in Sector 2814 already and Earth didn't seem like a place to stop and eat when he attacked Abin Sur. All these questions could be bad writing, but considering the timing of Sinestro's call to Abin on his ship, and all of Sinestro's talk of fear (everyone else focused on will), I think Sinestro set up Abin to be attacked. I think he somehow set things in motion for Parallax's release and made a deal with him. After all, how is it that he takes a group of the "best" Green Lanterns after Parallax, he hangs back just enough to not be hurt as badly by the shockwave Parallax unleashes AND he is the only one not to be overpowered by him? If Abin Sur could take down Parallax single handedly, he could take down someone who was just accessing the power of fear via a ring as opposed to becoming infected by it. If any of my theories were to pan out in a sequel I'd be pleasantly surprised that they had more going on that we realized. Of course showing us a bit more than Sinestro putting on the yellow ring would have helped. So, let's wrap thing up. 'Green Lantern' is an average movie with the potential to bring forth two great sequels IF they are willing to move forward and they can get the right folks to helm it. Right now I think we're all needing to tap some blue energy, because if it's going to happen we will need hope to burn bright.

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