Last night, Ryan Reynolds may have said he’s reached his super hero film quota with “Green Lantern” already completed and “Deadpool,” plus the genre-y graphic novel, “R.I.P.D.,” but he may be getting ahead of himself, since none of these pictures has been released. We’ve been pretty skeptical of “Green Lantern” so far, and more importantly, so has the vocal movie geek community who the movie is aimed at. Early trailers looked like lame SyFy channel tele-movies and even Warner Bros. admitted that all the early footage was weak.
But at WonderCon in San Francisco this weekend, we must admit, Warner Bros. knocked it out of the park and the just-released WonderCon footage is incredibly impressive. The creature designs by the always amazing Neville Page (who worked on “Piranha 3D,” “Avatar,” “Cloverfield,” “Star Trek,” and “Tron Legacy“) are surprisingly excellent. Unlike “Superman” or most superhero films, “Green Lantern” takes place on Oa, a planet that is home to Green Lanterns guardians around the universe and the aliens, effects and creatures could have easily been a dealbreaker (see how Lucas fucked most of this up with the similarly alien-populated planet of Coruscant). But the effects, vistas and scope of the planet looks terrific. If ever a studio has turned around the middling buzz of a film project, Warner Bros. has done it.
If we’re going to nitpick, the mask still looks a little odd, but at this point, that’s a quibble, and by the sounds of it, producers will be tweaking the film right down to the wire. Two new character posters have been unveiled with Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively as Carol Ferris and you can watch them below as well as the Wondercon footage.
Again, we’ll admit, we didn’t think director Martin Campbell could pull this off, perhaps the taste of the godawful and challenged “Edge of Darkness” still fresh in our minds. But maybe we shouldn’t have forgotten how well he revitalized the Bond series in “Casino Royale” and “The Legend of Zorro” ain’t bad for escapist entertainment either. “Green Lantern” also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, Temuera Morrison, Jon Tenney, the voice of Geoffrey Rush (and maybe Michael Clarke Duncan), and is set for release on June 17.
[Posters Via ShockTilYouDrop/DailyBlam]
This still looks terrible. I saw a thread that mentioned how good the CGI looks. It looks like a bad Sci-Fi series. The kick in the first trailer was Ryan Reynolds saying \”I know, right\”. I like GL, but I am in no way a fanboy. I just want a good visual telling of a solid story. This film looks like it is going to have neither.
Looks better than the first trailer .. much better .. but it still hasn\’t won me over completely. I\’m looking forward to X-Men, Captain America and even Thor more than I am this. I still think Reynolds is a funny cat and the fact that 50% of this film will be on another planet/space certainly makes it different than most (all?) of the other super hero movies we\’ve seen but for a non-Latern fanboy like myself they\’re not making the concept very interesting and the comic aspect of it might actually end up hurting its credibility at the end.
Nice visuals though. As long as it can entertain and the space storyline can be swallowed without too much salt, I\’m game.
@ John
\”it still looks like a big screen video game.\”
Just like Avatar did. That\’s becoming less and less derogatory… As long as they create a sense of immersion in that world that\’s all I care about. That\’s a tricky thing that very few have pulled off. But it\’s a popcorn movie, the more extravagant the better.
Whenever I think about summer movies, I can\’t not think about this Eddie Izzard bit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjC3R6jOtUo
Honestly, as impressive as the CGI is, and as much as it has improved substantially since the first trailer in November, it still looks like a big screen video game. Fake. This is not a knock as much as I see it as truth. Considering 50% of this movie takes place on Oa or on other planets, I just don\’t see as of this moment how that wont be a distraction to say the least. But then people like Watchmen and Starwars, so maybe it won\’t be as big an issue as I think. But I could care less about Star Wars and the Watchmen so it didn\’t bother me like this does, because I like the Lantern.I think it COULD bother Lantern fans, more then the general viewer I\’m not saying I won\’t see it or that it won\’t be even that much better in two and a half months on the big screen. I just can\’t help but wonder what this thing could look like in five to ten years.
Looks much more promising indeed! I dont know if I will ever be sold on the neon fruit roll up suit, but I am much happier from this footage then the stuff in November. Still not as excited for this as I am for Thor or Cap, but the full trailer with Thor on the big screen could move it up the list for sure. I never was worried about the comedy bits from the first trailer, I knew that was blown out of proportion. It was the Unfinished/ unrealized CGI. Great improvement! June 17th I\’m there.
lol it looks pretty bad to me
Still looks lame…
But my magic lantern has a prediction: fanboy boners will show up in droves and we will get two more of these and then a… wait for it… reboot with a brand new… wait for it… origin story.
You guys are fucking crazy man, you\’re crazy.
I agree this looks better, but…all that terrible stuff from the first trailer is still going to be in the movie, right?
Eh. Looks better than the trailer did, but still not convinced. The big CGI landscapes look poor (just like the ones in Thor trailers) and the mask is a joke.
So now the picky netnerds will change their tune.
Either way, looks like a very compelling summer blockbuster. Only things that need work in my opinion is everything concerning the suit & Ryan Reynold\’s face. The mask doesn\’t feel right (that\’s a problem with CG right on someone\’s eyes) & the neckline of his suit looks very dodgy.
Still, I honestly like the look of this film more than the washed out digital look of Captain America which I haven\’t been sold on yet.
I\’m feeling somewhat relieved. I earlier commented here how, being a GL fan, I\’ve pretty much written off this movie, but this is encouraging. I can see by what they\’ve chosen to show that yes, they\’ve listened to geekdom and overall critics by showing action and toning down the comedy. The CGI looks more finished (though I agree about that mask – needs work) and impressive.
Let\’s just hope the rest of the film is as promising.