Customer Reviews

Green Lantern (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy)

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(100)
3 star:		(98)
2 star:		(48)
1 star:		(155)

 

 

Green Lantern has received quite a bit of flak from reviewers for not being mainstream enough to relate to modern audiences. And that's a shame, because if Green Lantern is guilty of anything, it's of being a SUPERHERO movie.

Back before all these directors started streamlining films, revising backstories, and taking out Spider-Man's technologically-advanced web shooters, comic books were a glorious hodge-podge of the near possible, the impossible, and the just plain fantastic. Because superhero settings include every superhero and villain imaginable, they have to accommodate magic, aliens, superscience, and alternate dimensions in one heady mix. This makes for a very rich comic book series that can be intimidating for new audiences - which is precisely why movie directors cut out so much.

But you can't cut all the crazy out of Green Lantern and still stay true to the comics. And so, with tons of exposition, Green Lantern rabbit-punches viewers with world-shattering fact after mind-altering fact in the first five minutes: aliens exist, there's a giant yellow monster imprisoned in a planet, ancient humanoids predating humanity have been guarding the universe with green willpower, and there's a dizzying variety of highly advanced technical races from across the galaxy. Green Lantern makes Superman's backstory look quaint. His name doesn't help either - Emerald Flashlight has to say an oath that activates a ring that's charged by a lantern that's powered by a planet that's actually the embodiment of all sentient beings' will. No wonder critics got confused.

)o()o()o( "I pledge allegiance to a lantern, given to me by a dying purple alien." - Hal Jordan )o()o()o(

Director Martin Campbell knows all this. He makes fun of the ridiculous circumstances in which Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds and his fab abs) finds himself, ranging from a dogfight with two robot jets to a dogfight with a giant soul-eating monster. Part of what makes Green Lantern so entertaining is that it embraces its pulpy roots: there's the childhood sweetheart (smoking hot Blake Lively as Carol Ferris who just happens to be a successful businesswoman and fighter pilot), the nebbishly awkward villain (Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond), and tough-as-nails "red Spock" Sinestro (Mark Strong). The real villain of the piece, Parallax, sounds like a 1980s video game effect - oh wait, it is! This is not a movie to be taken too seriously.

)o()o()o( "It's not a magic ring--it's a ring powered by advanced technology!" - Hal Jordan )o()o()o(

And yet, Green Lantern is no movie trifle. The challenge with a superhero who has powers like Green Lantern is that the possibilities are literally endless - the rings are powered by the hero's will, which means he can technically imagine anything. This also means that an abusive hero might imagine black holes and solve all of his problems that way. Green Lantern cleverly constrains these god-like powers by imposing plot-related restrictions on Hal's creativity. When all Hal can come up with to stop a helicopter from crashing into partying guests is a Matchbox car in a ramp, it's because he played with one in his nephew's room the day before. When he's trying to use the sun's gravitational pull as a weapon, it's because he used the Earth's gravitational pull as a weapon against the two jets earlier and because his tutor Kilowog points out that gravity is a...uh, harsh mistress. Hal Jordan might always manifest boring weapons straight out of a first-person shooter, but that's because he's harboring a lot of guilt over his military daddy's death.

)o()o()o( "You thought I wouldn't recognize you just because I can't see your cheekbones?" - Carol Ferris )o()o()o(

Speaking of daddy issues, Green Lantern is one giant ball of forest-colored father/son conflict: Hal and his military pilot father, Hammond and his successful senator father, dead Abin Sur and grieving Sinestro, Abin Sur and the newly created Green Lantern, Parallax and his newly adopted avatar Hammond...it's clear the Green Lantern writers were looking for some emotional hook, and that hook was spelled out D-A-D. Green Lantern tries very hard to be deep.

Unfortunately, Green Lantern can be pretty shallow at times. Parallax, remember, is an ancient being predating much of humanity's evolution, but he falls for the oldest trick in the book. We're supposed to believe that Parallax really, really, REALLY hates Abin Sur and everything associated with him. After he kills Abin Sur, you have to ask why Parallax wants to go after just Hal Jordan when he could be eating so many other Green Lanterns for breakfast.

When Green Lantern goes big, it's glorious, but when it pulls in tight, the plot turns an earth-shattering battle between god-like beings into a schoolyard shoving match. But really, that's pretty normal from superhero comics. It's just that today's movie superhero fans expect a guy in a cloak that's just like you and me without any of the world-spanning baggage.

Green Lantern's guilty of being true to Green Lantern, spandex, mask, ring and all. For those who find it implausible, maybe a superhero powered by a jade-colored light source isn't for them.

I dont understand why people hated this movie so much. I have been a huge green lantern fan since i was 7 so ive been waiting for this movie for 13 years. The visual effects were great. The story (even though innacurate to the comics) was good. Ryan Reynolds played a near perfect Hal Jordan. The only problem was Hal was kinda whiny in parts in the movie which he never was in the comics. Blake Lively played Carol perfectly. The only problem I had witht he movie was the fact it wasnt long enough. The movie was only 1 hour 40 minutes. To fit in more character development and more story it should have been atleast a 2 hour movie. Didnt get enough development on the other lanterns, and the only ones you meet are Sinestro, Kilowog, and Tomar-Re. Even then you didnt get much of them. They need to make a sequel and go more in depth on more characters........the scene during the credits set up the sequel beautifully. Overall I loved this movie I sat in aww with goosebumps the whole movie (maybe because ive been waiting for this for years), but it was a really good movie. People complain because it wasnt realistic and goofy.......Has a superhero movie ever been realistic or not goofy in some way thats why we read and watch superhero movies to believe in something unrealistic.

I would love to touch on the merits and drawbacks of this movie, but I am so furious at having been defrauded about this particular package that I am at a level of rage previously unknown to the human experience.

Warner Brothers has really pulled a fast one with this 3D edition that was supposed to include everything with this "UltraViolet" digital copy. It's NOT a digital copy, but rather an authorization to access a streaming video of the original cut of the movie online. This is NOT the package I pre-ordered! When I saw the commercials for the "UltraViolet" digital copy, I thought there would be some special feature-- I never dreamed that special feature would be WB promising me a digital copy that I couldn't use in iTunes EVEN THOUGH EVERY OTHER DIGITAL COPY OF A MOVIE DOES. The digital copy you do get (IF you can get the website to work!) has to be played on some kind of Adobe player THAT WILL NOT PLAY THE FILE. So you're stuck with their online streaming swill even though you were promised a digital copy.

Sure they said "UltraViolet," but NO ONE KNEW WHAT THAT MEANT, and Warner Brothers did NOT explain it. I'm sure the people at the top are scrambling to figure out where to point the finger and how to explain to consumers what they didn't know and when they didn't know it, or how to blame consumers themselves, or pirates, or space aliens. Frankly, I don't care about the excuses. When I see "digital copy" I expect a digital copy and THEY KNOW IT. I did NOT expect to be locked into some kind of online digital cloud where it could only be watched at their whim on the device of their choosing-- in addition to being taken away at any time.

I can't return this for a refund because it's an open movie, nor can I exchange it for a different version. So I can't afford to get the digital copy from iTunes for the iPod my autistic nephew uses. My nephew doesn't understand why he can't watch this on his iPod and I can't explain it to him. All I can say is that their digital cloud is a bunch of hot air that smells REALLY bad, and this is a slap in the face to both myself and my nephew. I never did keep much track of which studio did what movie, but I will from now on. I will never forgive this studio for my nephew's heartbreak, nor will I forget it.

11/11/2011 **UPDATE** Five stars for Amazon customer service for refunding me the full purchase prices for this falsely advertised product! Zero stars to WB for pulling this stunt in the first place, and hoping they will learn not to try to pull one over on consumers in the future. Don't do it again, WB.... Kenneth is watching you, and he does NOT approve of your shenanigans. A'ight?

I rarely if ever take the time to write product reviews, but I have to point out that the so-called Digital Copy included with this disc is completely incompatible with iTunes and cannot be downloaded to iOS devices (iPhones, iPads, iPods). The disc requires you to sign up for two obscure services (Flixster and UltraViolet) in order to "stream" the movie to a third-party app on your device... i.e., you have to be connected to the Internet to view it. There is supposedly a way to download the movie to your computer, but this required installation of yet another software application. I cancelled out of all of these useless installations/services as soon as I realized I needed them to watch the movie.

Amazon needs to warn buyers that this Digital Copy is incompatible with iTunes and the very devices the Digital Copy was created to work on. Calling this a "Digital Copy" is blatant bait-and-switch false advertising.

I'll admit up front that I wasn't that familiar with the Green Lantern character before this movie. In fact, if I hadn't have talked to a friend who was a fan of the comics, everything I knew would have been from watching the old "Justice League" cartoons on Saturday mornings -- the ones in which Green Lantern was just another random face in the crowd. At least he wasn't the Wonder Twins, but Aquaman got more love than Green Lantern on that show. Thankfully, my friend explained why Green Lantern is so cool. I mean, having the power to create anything you can imagine... that's pretty awesome stuff. Obviously, the more imaginative the person, the better, and that was my main concern going in to this movie -- that the things the writers came up with for Green Lantern to create wouldn't be that creative. But I think they actually did a pretty good job in that department. Of course you have to keep in mind that he has to come up with these things on the spot, without a lot of time to sit around and think about it. The movie does have its flaws. There are a few scenes that feel cliche and it could have used a bit more action and a longer end fight, etc., but I still found it to be a fun, inspiring movie overall. I loved the "courage overcoming fear" storyline. As it turned out, it was the best time I had at the movies all summer.

First off I really liked the movie, if I was just rating the movie, it would probably be 3 1/2 stars, however, I have spent 4 days now trying to get this so called "digital copy". I knew what Ultraviolet was, and I thought it had promise to be used to stream to any device not locked to just one service (itunes), but it doesn't work. First off you have to sign into 4 different services to even get this stuff to maybe work, [...] some ultraviolet site and to "manage" your collection flixster collections...when in trying to link all of these useless accounts I can no longer access the movie to stream. So I am left with a product that does not work and customer service is a joke. I have been bounced around from site to site and from rep to rep who keep telling me to do the same thing over and over again, no matter how many times I tell them what has happened and what the issue is.

This flixster ultraviolet "suckloution" is the worst ever, you are better off ripping the DVD...

I am one of the few who really enjoyed Green Lantern. I saw it five times in theaters and couldn't wait for the Blu-ray release. Ryan Reynolds makes a perfect Hal Jordan, heroic, funny and real. Having watched the making of features, it is amazing what the actors did with little or no tangible sets or images to work with. Director Martin Campbell let the actors ad lib many of their lines and I loved how it turned out. Ryan's reactions to flying and the alien situations were real. I don't believe he got enough credit. I also loved Blake Lively as Carol Ferris. She was a strong willed, intelligent women with strong business sense and a fighter pilot to boot. Her character was one of the strongest I have seen in the genre. She wasn't just eye candy, but a partner to Hal. I do love the fact that she knew who Hal was even with the mask on. I have the Extended Cut of this film and if you haven't seen it, the missing footage really makes the difference in this film. The theatrical version doesn't do a great job of explaining the triangle between Hal, Carol and Hector. The additional footage helps to explain this much better. The most compelling scene that was also left out of the theater version is an extended version of the scene where Hal talks to Jason about how much he loves flying. The additional scene has Hal encouraging Jason to close his eyes and relive the day he pitched a no-hitter. Hal closes his eyes as well and talks about how flying makes him feel and how to keep believing that something good is out there. This moment is where the ring actually chooses Hal, not the green glowing pick up outside. I think this really showed a bit more depth of the character and why he was chosen.

I was not that familiar with the Green Lantern character, but I really did enjoy the message of not allowing fear to overcome. The scenes on Oa were incredible (but too short) and I would love to have seen more of the other Lanterns. The making of footage gave me a deeper appreciate for what the actors went through, Mark Strong was excellent as Sinestro, and I do hope there is a sequel. I recommend the Extended cut, as it does give a better overview of the story and is a fun film. I love fun comic book films. The audiences that I saw Green Lantern with were surprisingly large (theaters 85% full with a wide variety of age groups who really enjoyed it). This was my second favorite film of the summer behind Thor. I enjoyed this more than X-Men First Class. Don't let the bad reviews keep you away. The one major issue of the release is that the digital copy will not work with iTunes. Streaming with Flixter and Ultraviolet is crap. You have to pay extra for an iTunes copy. We have so many futuristic films where man has screwed up the planet that it is nice to see a positive view of aliens and the universe with a hopeful view like Star Trek. I can't wait to see Hal vs. Sinestro!

The product was advertised as including a digital copy. What it actually includes is a requirement to enrole in both Flixster and UltraViolet. After 45 minutes to sign up, install software, and download the movie it becomes clear that what is provided is a proprietary player/streamer that does not work withiTunes or other media players. Beware.Green Lantern (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + UltraViolet Digital Copy)

I've seen all the Super hero movies as of late, and this movie is stronger than most of them across the board.
I haven't enjoyed a super hero movie like this since rhe first Ironman movie. This movie develops the charscters so much better than films like Twighlight for example....
You have a reason to care about the people in this movie.
It's an origin story begging for a sequal. This is a great kids movie as well.

-JD

As mentioned by other reviewers the set does not actually include a "digital copy." The claim is simply false. The requirement to install a viewer and enroll in services is the worst kind of bait and switch. Digital Rights Management run amuck. And to say that you get a digital copy, when in fact you get a digital stream should be actionable by a class (for any aspiring JD's out there). UltraViolet is no great deal for consumers and should probably be shunned. I returned this falsely labeled product and cancelled my pre-orders that included "UltraViolet Digital" Copies.

Years ago Sony used music CD's to install root kits on PC's, that was actionable. Sony had to make users whole. Time for Warner Bros. to do the same.

For the record, as a fan of comicbook movies, SF and fantasy, I rate the movie 3 stars. Though a quick look at the reviews shows a wide diversity of opinion. The movie is watchable and has some merit, but compares unfavorably to the better comicbook adaptations.