Okay, I've seen this movie about 4 times now, and I honestly can't understand how it didn't succeed. It barely made its budget back, and I thought it respected the source material. Geoff Johns took a direct hand in a lot of it (say what you will about the guy, but he knows GL). I mean if stuff like Transformers can succeed and be the most profitable movies in the years they come out, why didn't this? I don't think GL was perfect, but while it wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, it was nowhere near the train wreck that critics called it. It's a lot more high concept than most heroes, and I guess that was a draw back for some of the mainstream audience. Anyway, did anyone else enjoy it? What did you like/dislike about it?

@ultimatepunchrod: Wrong actor playing Hal Jordan, he could have made a decent kyle Raynor though.

@evilvegeta74: I thought Reynolds was okay. He wasn't great, but definitely not terrible.

Didnt like the actor choice and thought the movie was really bad overall. The only thing I liked was Sinestro, thats about it... The story almost made me cry it was so pieced together and wrong. Just wrong.

Let me see...

The script: Nobody in that movie was likable. A huge part of Hal's origin story is his relationship with his father. We got next to nothing of that part in the film, and I couldn't sympathize with Ryan Reynolds with a power ring.

The villains: Hector Hammond was a joke. I never felt threatened by anything the character did in the entire course of the film. Paralax was completely watered down compared to the entity's comic book counterpart. Having both villains in this movie was completely unnecessary and neither of them made me want to see more.

The supporting characters: Kilowog is a fantastic character... and he was in the movie for a good 10 minutes. What's worse is that for those 10 minutes, he barely did anything. I love how when Hal's taking on Paralax, the supposed gigantic threat it's supposed to be, the GLC (all two members) just sorta floated there and watched Hal try to fight it by himself. Completely out of character. Speaking of which, what the hell was Sinestro's place in this movie supposed to be? The best part of the GL mythos, IMO, is Sinestro and Hal's teacher/student relationship. We got none of that. Other things that were completely left out was Atrocitus. In Johns's Secret Origin, the dude played a pretty big role in Jordan's origin, considering he was pretty much responsible for Abin Sur's death.

The constructs were also uncreative, the GL suit was pretty terrible-looking, and the whole thing didn't flow well at all.

So that's what I thought.

it wasn't really all that close to the source material either...the whole Kronos/Parallax combo was just dumb

The movie was a pile of s###. I've described why I hate it plenty of times, and I just don't feel like tapping into that rage mindset at the moment. All I'll say is I liked Hal's alien allies, Ryan Reynolds was fine for the role, and the movie could've been great had the script not been mutilated by rewrites.

The movie was just terrible. There was no way it could have been better I mean what was the point of it: guy gets power ring and saves the day. Woopty Doo

Characters: Terrible.

Hal: the reckless asshole who has to learn to be responsible so he can save the world

Carol: the dark haired beauty with the feisty attitude, who gives the reckless asshole hard love

Hector: the loser who got no love from his family, didn't get the girl, and now shall take the revenge on everybody when he finally gets powers

Not to mention the movie mentions these characters are connected but there was hardly any deep storyboard on this intimate connection.

Plot: HOT MESS

Ancient Alien Evil is released unto the universe and its up to the rookie to save the day when all the veterans failed. And by the way there's a freak on earth going rampage.

Storyboard: WAS THIS REALLY NEEDED TO BE SEEN

So many scenes that didn't need to be seen. That just wasted people's time I will begin,

The birthday party scene. We suddenly see these characters who show deep concern for our protagonist. We are shown a conflict of family vs protagonist. Does this conflict have a resolution? No. We don't even see these characters again.

The bar fight. It was not needed. It was just there to once again chosen to prove that he was a reckless asshole

Sinestro getting the yellow ring. We never see him use it or wear it. Nor is there even an explanation of what it does. Completely useless.

What kills me is that the original script was fantastic. There were also Amanda Waller, Superman, Alan Scott, and Guy Gardner cameos. The hell happened, WB?

The movie was terrible and PROVES that DC has no idea on how to handle its characters in live-action other than Batman...

@Gambit1024 said:

What kills me is that the original script was fantastic. There were also Amanda Waller, Superman, Alan Scott, and Guy Gardner cameos. The hell happened, WB?

Is there a way to find the script online?

I would love to read it.

@Agent9149 said:

@Gambit1024 said:

What kills me is that the original script was fantastic. There were also Amanda Waller, Superman, Alan Scott, and Guy Gardner cameos. The hell happened, WB?

Is there a way to find the script online?

I would love to read it.

I'm sure you can try digging online for it. I never actually read it (couldn't find it), but the things I've heard about it were awesome.

@evilvegeta74 said:

@ultimatepunchrod: Wrong actor playing Hal Jordan, he could have made a decent kyle Raynor though.

This.

Hal was unlikable, Carol was dull, Hammond was useless, Kilowog & Tomar Re didn't do anything, and Parallax looked stupid and unconvincing. Only saving grace was Sinestro (but didn't really do anything of importance as well), overall extremely disappointing movie...

Bad acting, bad script, stupid plot

So...I'm the only one who liked it then. Cool.

Here's my take: The movie was far from perfect. Hector Hammond is almost more likable than Jordan, until about midway through the movie where he tries to kill his father. On the other hand, Hal is in the exact opposite position until that same point in the movie (he got a ton of people fired, he's a reckless jackass). However, that's Jordan's arc. He's a reckless jerk who has to learn responsibility. The film fumbles on this point, but doesn't fail. He spends a lot of the movie moping, but he does get it together by the end.

Parallax was decently well done. He gives a good intro to the yellow-green feud, and introduces the idea that fear is the antithesis of will which is basically the driving force behind a lot of the Green Lantern mythos. As for Carol, she was boring, but not because of Blake Lively. She just didn't have anything to do except be rescued and then nag people.

Sinestro was also done in a pretty accurate albeit abbreviated way. He's established someone who is willing to sacrifice the good of the few for the "greater good" and it sets up the conflict between Hal's wanting to save everyone mentality.

Overall, the movie had problems. More than a few problems to be sure, but it laid a good framework for what is one of the more complicated super hero stories, and it didn't compromise any of it for the sake of casual audiences. Parallax could have been saved for later. Having just a mad scientist type would have been better and easier for people to wrap their heads around than having a big gaseous cloud that sucks the skeletons out of people.

@Agent9149 said:

Sinestro getting the yellow ring. We never see him use it or wear it. Nor is there even an explanation of what it does. Completely useless.

Sinestro getting the yellow ring is the set up for the Sinestro Corps war-esque story line they had planned for the sequel which may not even be happening now.

I think the movie wasn't half as bad as Mark Johnson's, Ghost Rider, but I believe the crew should've put more effort into making the movie the most "proper" way it should be screenplayed, especially when they're trying to explain the origin of Hal Jordan becoming a Green Lantern, himself. I know the first movie of any sequel is the most boring, as it is the "build-up-to-a-sequel", but directors are professional talents as it is and should know how to make these kind of movies up to par. We know Warner Bros. will be helping fund the next Green Lantern "Sequel" and be working alongside DC Entertainment's Geoff Johns and the GL crew. So hopefully in the summer of 2014 we will see some high expectations for the Green Lantern "Sequel", which will focus on the rise of the Sinestro Corps.

i thought it was a good movie.

i guess people are so obnoxious that they have to compare every movie to batman. and if its not as good, then it sucks.

It was ok. But I never really like Ryan Reynolds in super hero movies. Didn't like him in Blade, didn't like him in Wolverine, didn't like him here.

Hal Jordan spent most of the movie moping around. It's totally out of character. I mean, he QUIT. Hal wouldn't quit. He's supposed to rise to the challenge. That's what willpower is all about. That's why Ryan Reynolds wasn't a good choice to play him. He couldn't pull off the kind of character Hal is. And Hector Hammond. What's with the daddy issues? I'm sick of seeing daddy issues in every movie I watch. It's like they have to add it in every movie when it's totally unnecessary. Oh, and they just HAD to make it so Hector knew Hal personally before they both became superhero and supervillain, respectfully. Why does every superhero movie character have to know each other somehow? Although you could chock those last two things up to personal taste. Parallax should not have been in this movie though. He (it?) is too big of a villain to use in the first movie. And why did he have to look like a giant cloud? So uncreative. And Sinestro. I liked him, and he had a good actor, but suddenly he's evil at the end without any character development whatsoever to explain why? And he should have been more integral in Hal's story. I liked Kilowog as well, and the movie LOOKED nice in my opinion.