Wednesday 29 June 2011

Green Lantern

Well i have Been to see the new GL movie and as one of the 'fun' characters i enjoy reading in comics i was looking forward to it now technology is up to the task i cant see it being done previously
And we have in the lead role Ryan Renolds aka deadpool in the wolverine film and
 Mark strong as Sinestro
now i went there looking forward to this and staying away from spoilers and trailers
this is the origin story about who Hal Jordan is how he got the ring and his first 'test' as a Green Lantern the first human one at that as the corps is made up of aliens across the galaxy
Wow the visuals are sooooooo good come to that in a moment

but Reynolds as cocky brash young Hal works in a lot of ways his charm brilliant, but he is no Lantern he for a second talking to Carol had it but lost it he cant measure up as the larger than life serious business character the wise and strong Green Lantern brave and bold he isn't big enough for it able to change form one persona to the other and that's a shame as he did look good but the same persona for both characters doesn't work and to much as Johny Storm sarky fun character  here theres not a huge difference in characters and there should be
and well if more time could of been spent on the origin story that it was supposed to be, to paint us a portrait of the headstrong pilot who is desperate to fly. you do get a strong impression of Hal being a maverick in every sense of the word.We DO get glimpses of his childhood, his attempts to become a pilot and the death of his dad that drives him but this is passed off in few seconds screen time sadly nothing  on how he became a pilot ex air force Top Gun (which should reflect in his flying style as GL swooping and zooming to camera ala Reeve Superman  For a fighter jet pilot, that's exactly what the flights should look like ) ,why he is so good and a top test pilot and damage he has to his confidence after bailing in a war zone all missed opportunities that would of leant credence to his doubts at being a Galaxy cop,

The corps Guardians included look fantastic Tomar-Re is brilliant and well voiced by Geoffrey Rush
and Sinestro steals the show the OA as a planet is realised brilliantly but this is the problem with CGI its a toy and they want to play and it is beyond excessive and 3D is just ruining good pictures by taking centre stage and ruining effects having everything coming towards you and 3D comes at the cost of a good story and everything else
he flies brilliantly but in a cartoon way a lot  sadly not enough wire and gimble work
Carol works well and so does Ferris Air , the big rescue scene is a damp squid i am afraid you expect more and get less
The costume is nice Mask in Latex very thin & looks good, i like the domino mask and don't get the shape of this one looks weird i think its due to being squared off at the bottom
and the fact his suit is a construct ,   again a rubber suit this both works and doesn't ,the look / style all works (and nice to see different suits for different members) the when active and doing something lines of flowing energy are a nice touch as the suit is energy based ,the rubber aspect is to obvious and doesn't work and sadly the screen saver symbol constantly changing like a cloud effect even at rest just annoyed me also it was to dark and not enough white, i missed the gloves
the ring is ok bit chunky clunky not sleek like its counterpart in comic cartoon and replicas etc ,The actual Lantern is a mess and touch it bang charged where was the oath as mentioned in the film ? and what was the central Battery about or more to the point where was it ?



Now the film itself was well like the old saying "a camel is a horse designed by committee"
this is it five writers is to much and so much going on you got enough with the Corps Abin SUR Hal and Paralax but to throw in some quasi modo character who beats me no idea what he was about why he was there something mentioned about being known to them ??a old acquaintance and rival for Carol's affection? Where did that come from? All good questions which are raised a lot on a lot of things  and never answered as "Green Lantern" runs head long into the hurdle of bad pacing and editing choices, a problem it never overcomes.

And the Sinestro boss GL and the one sentence off Kilowog for training and that was it ??? it doesn't work folks
five constructs Hal made FIVE in a GL movie about him that is very bad and to have main villain dispatched in 2 minetes of screen time after leading up to being the big bad ?, er no not really not big or epic

The story frankly is everywhere and fear fear fear constantly going on you could make a game how many times it is mentioned we get it ok paralax instills fear got it and he wasn't frightened ,as was seen in the film he just had doubts about his ability ,so film contradicted itself
"Green Lantern" is purely a popcorn movie for 12-year-olds, who won't be disappointed.any older your in trouble 6- 60 this is not there's no substance no real story you don't feel anything or know anything about the characters to care its CGI  space Opera flashy and that's it ,
There's a good movie in there somewhere and enough of it shines through that Green Lantern is not an out-and-out failure just really its a weak film and it's easy to see the promise that hasn't been lived up to.
One thing that shines is cinematographer Dione Beebe  and production designer Grant Major have put together an exciting package whether it's a small apartment or planes flying above the desert. The result is one of the most resplendent comic book films of the modern era the look was right not to real not to unreal 




"Green Lantern", ultimately decides to ditch character and plot in favour of splendour and action scenes, which is damaging enough when it's chosen from the outset. It's even worse when it seems to have been a choice in post-production and even in editing . Campbell is a smart enough filmmaker to realize that it's the character relationships which draw audiences into these cosmic goings on  
The holes become so evident, with character's referring to things it feels like we were supposed to know and Ive been reading GL comics form age 6 , (in case you think this makes me biased and a instant film hater if like me  you've read green lantern and grew up with the mythology of it you will enjoy this movie no matter what. Seeing green lantern in real action wow thank you ) 
. "Green Lantern" ends up becoming a patchwork, a mix of good ideas ,bad ideas ill thought out ones and classic comic referencing and use like the Synestro corps logo and ring etc and bad editing choices.
Overall bit of a let down