I hope you have some time on your hands because I've got a lot to talk about.
One of the things that can really sour my opinion on a movie is when I see a lot of potential in the story that the movie just doesn't live up to. Unfortunately, Green Lantern is a perfect example of this. In the 33 years since the release of Superman the movie, the only DC universe characters that have gotten major movies are Superman and Batman (and Jonah Hex if you count that one). For a very long time, I've thought that Green Lantern would be the best choice of a non-Superman/Batman character for DC to start a movie series with. For one thing, Hal Jordan has one of the most classic super hero origin stories. Combine that with the rich history associated with the stories of the Green Lantern Corps and how much there is to explore there, and you've got the ingredients for a really good movie. However, somehow this movie turned out to be mediocre in just about every respect.
The plot is simplistic and predictable. If you know a decent amount about Green Lantern and have watched the trailers, you're really not given anything new or interesting here. Some people may try to make the excuse that since it's the origin story, it's naturally predictable, but that's really only partially true. If it sticks to the origin well, then yes, the story of how the character becomes a superhero should be pretty predictable. However, where it goes from there is the part where the film makers have an opportunity to do something creative. Look at Batman Begins. That movie even managed to work a pretty decent plot twist into an origin story. (SPOILER WARNING) In Green Lantern we know that Hal gets the ring learns how to use its power and must defeat Parallax and Hector Hammond. Well, he does. That's really the only place it goes after showing the necessary origin details. Hal deals with his uninteresting insecurities and then beats the bad guys. The end. The sad part is, that plot synopsis really isn't much of an exaggeration. There really isn't much more to the movie than that.
Moving away from plot, let's take a look at casting and character portrayals. I'll only focus on two characters: Hal and Sinestro. I've never been very enthusiastic about the choice of Ryan Reynolds to portray Hal Jordan. I have no problem with Reynolds. In fact, a few years ago when there was talk that he was going to play the Flash, I was in full support. Judging by my experience watching Wally West on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, he was a perfect fit. I also approve of the choice of Reynolds to play Deadpool in X-men Origins Wolverine. He did a good job with the role (when the character was actually written like Deadpool) and I was enthusiastic about seeing him reprise the role in a solo Deadpool movie (fingers still crossed). However, I've never really been sold that he was the perfect guy for Hal Jordan and this movie didn't prove me wrong.
I don't completely blame Reynolds for the problems with Hal Jordan in this movie. Most of it is just how the character was written in this weak script. Is it totally inaccurate? Not really. It's a very shallow take on the character. Hal is cocky, reckless and pretty much just a mess. Beneath that there's his insecurity that he feels in trying to live up to the memory of his father and the responsibilities thrust upon him. On paper, it seems like we've got a pretty interesting character, but the way it was executed in the movie just didn't really pull me into the character or make me admire him. The problem with Hal is really one of the biggest problems with the movie as a whole: I didn't feel anything. I'd also like to note that the struggling to overcome fear storyline feels more like Kyle Rayner. From my experience with the character, Hal is naturally pretty fearless like a typical Green Lantern, but struggles with feelings of guilt and anger.
Sinestro is a slightly different case. I actually enjoyed Mark Strong's performance as Sinestro. However, even more so than Hal, Sinestro was poorly written. The main problem with Sinestro was that he really didn't do much in this movie. He acted like a jerk towards Hal in the beginning, gave a few speeches to the Corps that were basically just a tool to show that he was the top Lantern, talked to the Guardians and asked to make a yellow ring, and then expressed his approval of Hal at the end. The movie failed to give the audience a feel of who Sinestro is as a character.
In the comics, Sinestro has a pretty noble goal of peace, but he's obsessed with order to the point where he becomes a dictator and rules over his home planet. He's not afraid of crossing lines and using methods that his fellow Lanterns and the Guardians would not approve of. Sinestro has a desire for power, a huge ego, and a disdain for the way the Guardians lead the Corps. Absolutely none of that came across in the way the character was written in this movie. They did have a scene with him putting on the yellow ring, foreshadowing his role as the main villain of the sequel (if that ever gets made), but even if they were able to do a good job with him in the sequel, they've already weakened the impact of the character by not really giving the audience a feel for who he is.
The other major thing excluded from this movie was Sinestro's role as Hal Jordan's mentor. Both Green Lantern Secret Origin and Green Lantern First Flight emphasize this as an important part of the story. Not only did that give us a chance to get to know Sinestro better, but it also makes the dynamic between the two characters much more interesting once Sinestro goes bad and they become enemies.
Speaking of Secret Origin and First Flight, both of these are excellent retellings of Hal Jordan's origin story. A few years ago, when I saw a screening of Green Lantern First Flight, my confidence in the live action adaptation of Green Lantern went through the roof. I figured that since that was such a solid movie in its own right, all they had to do was build on that for the live action version (which I'll refer to as Green Lantern The Movie, GLTM). First Flight did a great job of taking the origin and then moving to the plot to more of a space adventure. It gave a good feel for how the Corps worked and really what being a Green Lantern was like. Unlike GLTM, which marginalizes the other members of the Corps in favor of an Earthbound story with a focus on Hal's relationship with Carol, First Flight plays to the strengths of the Green Lantern brand, taking place in space for the majority of the movie with the members of the Corps as the important supporting cast. In GLTM, Tomar-re serves to give some exposition about who the Corps is, Kilowog gives some brief training as a typical drill sergeant character, and I've already mentioned Sinestro. These characters are very poorly developed and the rest of the GL Corps is just a bunch of nameless, random aliens as far as the movie is concerned.
Throughout the development and marketing of GLTM, the people involved made quite a few comparisons to Star Wars, suggesting that it would be the Star Wars of super hero movies. Just about every Star Wars movie features characters travelling from planet to planet, making the setting of the story feel like it's on a grand scale. Once again, First Flight accomplishes this while GLTM confines itself to Earth and Oa. The movie didn't even really give a feel for Oa. We saw it on the surface, but Oa felt shallow and lifeless. It gave me a feeling similar to the one I get when I'm playing a video game and the designers have taken the trouble to make the background look pretty. It's nice to look at, but you know it's a section that you can't go to because there's nothing there. We were shown a few outdoor locations in GLTM, but First Flight showed various things like their cafeteria and they're morgue giving it more of the feeling of an advanced base of operations.
My confidence in the potential of the movie increased once again when I read Secret Origin. Secret Origin managed to cover a lot of the stuff that First Flight lacked, but would be expected in a live action movie. It gave more of an idea of who Hal Jordan was and his background, placing a heavier emphasis on his relationship with his family and Carol Ferris while still giving due attention to the wider Green Lantern Universe. GLTM, features one scene with Hal's brothers and nephew, which really is just part of the set-up of Hal as a screw up, but a nice guy. However, there's no resolution to this. They didn't need to completely patch up his relationship with his brothers, but without some sort of scene near the end with one of them seeing that Hal has grown as a person, they might as well have been left out entirely.
Featuring Parallax as the main villain of the movie was a mistake. I assume a lot of the people reading this are pretty familiar with the history of Parallax, but for those of you who aren't read about it
HERE . Featuring Parallax at the very beginning completely removes the mystery surrounding the yellow impurity and takes away the chance to make its introduction into an interesting reveal as part of a sequel. Aside from the waste of an opportunity, this Parallax wasn't enough of a character to be the central villain of a movie. Hector Hammond was a secondary villain, but he was pretty lame. Parallax provided the main conflict of the movie, but it was really just this big powerful blob with a head. Not much of a personality or a motivation. A great hero-villain conflict comes from seeing two, very strong personalities with opposing goals clash. Watching the interrogation scene of The Dark Knight even before Batman starts beating up the Joker, is far more engaging than watching Hal fight Parallax at the climax of Green Lantern. Writing the main villain of a movie to be that uninteresting kills most of the tension of the central conflict and weakens the movie considerably.
I could go on attacking this movie, but I'd like to wrap things up with my thoughts on what it should have been. Mixing First Flight and Secret Origin would have made for a very solid movie with minor tweaking. My ideal Green Lantern Origin movie would probably take place 45 percent on Earth with the majority of the Earth scenes taking place at the beginning to set up the character's relationships, flaws, and background. After getting the ring, he would train under Kilowog and then be mentored by Sinestro. Hal's relationship with Sinestro would have been one of the major focuses, with the plot being structured fairly similarly to Men in Black in the sense that the experienced member takes the inexperienced member under his wing as they do their job and take on the major threat of the movie together. The feel of the relationship would be more similar to that of Bruce Wayne and Ra's al Ghul with Sinestro as a tough love teacher with a dark side who, as he sees the potential in Hal, hopes that Hal will join him in his later mission. I wouldn't make Sinestro a villain until the sequel, but I would set up his willingness to venture into morally gray areas and his disdain for the leadership of the guardians. The sequel would then feature moments similar to Batman Begins' scenes of Bruce turning away from his mentor and their fight at the climax. I'm unsure who I'd choose to be the main villain of the movie, possibly Kanjar Ro.
One thing I will say for Green Lantern is that none of the mistakes it made completely screw up their ability to make a good sequel. Plot wise, things aren't badly damaged. If necessary, they could recast certain cast members, and even change certain design elements. Aside from my frustration that this movie didn't live up to its potential, my concern is that people will see this movie and dismiss the story of Green Lantern as lame or think that it's something that just doesn't translate well to live action. The movie has been getting destroyed by critics and it's not looking like it's going to make money either. I really hope that this doesn't kill our chance of seeing Green Lantern in a solo film again within the next 10 years whether it's a sequel, reboot or semi-reboot. I guess all we can do is hope. Thanks for reading. Be sure to check out both Green Lantern Secret Origin and Green Lantern First Flight if you haven't. They're a good reminder of what could have been.