GREEN LANTERN MAKES HIS DEBUT ON THE SMALL SCREEN - Page 2

Have you seen the BACK TO THE FUTURE footage that originally featured Eric Stoltz, before Michael J Fox was recast as Marty Mcfly.

Stoltz completely changed the tone of the film. With him as Marty, it was coming off as more of an angsty, existential drama. Fox brought it back to the comedic tone that the producers were hoping for. Would have been a totally different film if they kept Stoltz. Imagine how different Beverly Hills Cop would have been if it it had starred Sly Stallone as originally mooted. It would have been a fairly dark thrilller. The tone shifted to accomadate Eddie Murphy's comedic talents.

I do think the lead actor in a project like this can completely dictate the tone. I imagine someone more inclined to seriousness like Ryan Gosling in the Hal Jordan role, would have forced a massive change in tone. The fillmmakers are clearly playing to Reynold's primary strengths, which are comedic and smirky in nature. Which is a disappointment of sorts, because I do think Reynolds can effectively play it straight (he was very much a straight man in Adventureland). Instead, by the looks of things, we are getting Van Wilder with a power ring.

If they wanted to introduce Reynolds as Guy Gardner in the sequel, I think that would have been perfect and few would complain. Because Reynold's slightly douchey Frat Boy persona fits Gardner to a tee. But feels all wrong for Hal Jordan. It's poor casting.

Chris Pine is the guy I think Hollywood want Reynolds to be. Pine has the weight and seriousness (along with the charisma, sense of humour and charm) to carry off these parts. Reynolds can rarely find the correct balance. I think Pine might actually have been the perfect Hal Jordan.

Looks like they have gone for a mix of Hal and Kyle charater wise, which aint a bad thing.


As for all you haters, the wonderfull thing about comic books is that they allow you have numerous takes on the same charater. Just accept that it's not "classic" Hal Jordon and be happy that they seem to be making a fun space adventure.

What about The Legend of Zorro or Edge of Darkness?

Campbell's a hit or miss guy. He just came off of a big miss, so I'm hoping this one is a hit.

Well said, Holistic.

Or they hired Reynolds because he perfectly fit the tone that they were going for and that we know little to nothing about. Y'know, one of the two...

Sometimes I wish there was a like button on here, well said Evi.

I've seen shots. Are there whole scenes out there?

[QUOTE] Imagine how different Beverly Hills Cop would have been if it it had starred Sly Stallone as originally mooted. It would have been a fairly dark thrilller. The tone shifted to accomadate Eddie Murphy's comedic talents.Well it didn't "accommodate" Murphy all by itself. A new script, on-set direction which allowed for Murphy's improvisation, etc., all helped to provide the new tone.

A different lead can be a catalyst for change, but a whole bunch of other shit, as illustrated in your Beverly Hills Cop example, has to happen on several creative fronts to change the tone of a film.

Or maybe they were going with that old school, stereotype of what a test pilot is like: cocky, arrogant, always looking for a good time.

Hell, go read Yeager's biography and look at some of the stuff he talks about: hunting with the planes, cracking jokes as his plane is out of control and about to crash. Pilots alone are flying planes worth millions of dollars. A test pilot is flying something costing millions of dollars, worth billions to the company, and one thing on it might not work right and kill you. Takes a little bit of arrogance and cockiness to climb into that cockpit.

It seems pretty obvious that they are going for IRON MAN here in terms of tone. Whether that's good or bad remains to be seen. It's not doing anything for me, but I'm not a GL fan. Plus, there's barely any footage. I'll say this, the costume looks better than that promo pic.

Speaking of Chris Pine, what is up with that dude's career? He caught the world's attention as Captain Kirk, now he's playing second fiddle to Denzel in a dumb train movie. Dude needs a new agent.

I haven't read GL in a LONG time, but I do remember the tone for it consistently being all over the map. It would go from goofy to serious and back again in a hearbeat. It's a comic book where Parallax and that boogaloo-kangaroo pictured on the first page in this thread, exist in the same universe!

I don't see how a playful movie about a glowing guy punching people with 3D laser hammers could look any different than that... so it's probably a pretty spot on adaption. I don't like it though. Looks like a late The Mask III: Suit of the Mask.

Remember Jack Black's Green Lantern? Written by Robert Smigel? Could've been A LOT worse.

http://iesb.net/index.php?option=com...sk=view&id=122

True, but to me those aren't necessarily characteristics that lead to snark and wit, more a confident self-absorbed douchiness.

I like Reynolds, but his casting and the snippets does suggest a fairly light tone. I would prefer that Hal wasn't a total wiseacre.

It wouldn't have been a real Green Lantern, but I trust Smigel enough to believe that movie would have been very entertaining.

The "dumb train movie", as you call it, is one of the best reviewed big studio films of the year. Currrently standing at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 95% with the top critics. Many critics are calling it the most enjoyable action film of the year, and Pine is getting nice critical ink for holding his own against one of the most esteemed leading men of all time in Denzel (presumably, that being the main hook. If you can act opposite THE DENZEL, and not fade into the background, it's a notch on your acting resume).

Suddenly, from being "only" a recast James Kirk in Star Trek (which could easily have been the equivalent of Christopher Reeve never escaping Superman), he's looking like a potentially long term leading man, who can play outside his insular sci-fi franchise with the best in the buisness and not be overwhelmed.

His agent probably deserves a raise. Unstoppable has only made Pine more credible as Hollywood's next big thing.

lol I remember the outrage.
NOOOOOOOOO A GREEN LANTERN COMEDY!!

Part of me wishes that movie was made just so I could see H.E.A.T. types freak out and create endless ONLINE PETITIONS demanding that every Green Lantern movie print be destroyed.

I'd be interested in reading that script. I like Robert Smigel.

Well said, and exactly what I was going to reply.

And another thing that some of you are conveniently forgetting is that the original Hal Jordan in the comics was a boring cipher with little to no personality.

And honestly, you people who grew up reading the comics of the nineties need to lighten the hell up. You all seem to have gotten this image of superheroes as scowling blowhards going to war.

Apparently fun is out of fashion now, but if you ask me, modern superheroes could use a little more of this

And a whole lot less of this

Zohan.

Huh, OK. Good to know. I like Pine, so glad to see he's doing well.

Sorry to be dismissive of UNSTOPPABLE, the marketing makes it look like another runaway train movie that we've seen a bunch of times already. My bad for pre-judging.

Oh, and Denzel rules, no doubt about it.

I can't believe somebody mounted such a spirited defense of a Tony Scott movie. You'd think that somebody insulted a Werner Herzog film.

I didn't realize it was Tony Scott. I take it all back.

Seriously.

Pleasantly surprised by the tone. Was expecting superhero grimness with this because of the designs. But it looks like they are going for bright and fun space fantasy, which for a property like this is exactly what it should be.

Too bad I'm all superhero-movied right the fuck out.

I really like only a few Tony Scott films, but that's beside the point. I was defending Chris Pine's post-Star Trek decisions, which were being questioned. He made a film that got great reviews for himself and the film, solidified his potential as a non-nerd franchise leading man, and should do solid box office....FIRE THE AGENT!!!!

Knee-jerk disdain for Tony Scott is also very much a tired geek cliche. We geddit already...he's an action hack with ADD who doesn't hold a candle to Sir Ridley. He's had his moments, and the reviews for Unstopabble give me hope that he's still got some good stuff in him. Blame the critics for giving his latest very strong notices, 'cause I didn't make that shit up. As far as I'm concerned Chris Pine is making the correct moves in his career as of now (and all this started because I said I felt Pine would make a far better Hal Jordan than Reynolds).

Moving back on topic...

I like how a general consensus of "it's OK for being a stupid action movie" in the reviews is considered getting "strong notices".

And it's a "geek" thing to hate on Tony Scott? I thought that was just a "people who actually like good movies" thing.

As for the ET clip, I wouldn't take a whole lot of tone from it. That show is notorious for re-editing and V.O.'ing to hell in their preview of the preview clips. I remember when they teased the trailer for Inglourious Basterds, and it made it seem like 300 meets World War II. Then the actual trailer debuted and we got Pitt's monologue, which made all the difference.

Guess what I'm sayin is, chill the hell out about the tone. And for the suit--well, my friend Sydney Pollack said it best when he said "Who gives a shit?!"

Even poisoned by Sandler, I thought Zohan was very funny and awesomely subversive.

Yeah, the hell is wrong with Zohan?

Sandler, I guess? I got what they were trying to do and I found the idea very cool but literally none of the jokes connected for me. The best I could was smirk a couple of times.

Abbott & Prospero, You're tired of...Superhero films? You will be missing out on, the 12 comic adaptions are in the works for, 2011-2012. I love that we are living in a...Superhero/ Comic adaption Renaissance! In additon to, Green Lantern in 3D, there are adaptions of...1) Thor, 2) Captain America, 3) X-Men First Class 4)Conan, 5) The Avengers in 3D, 6) The Dark Knight Rises, 7) Superman: The Man Of Steel, 8) The Wolverine, 9) Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance in 3D, 10) Dredd (the new Judge Dredd film), 11) Spider-Man reboot.

Fleed, your post alone makes me weary of more superhero flicks.

That said, I'm always happy to watch a good movie, even in a seemingly exhausted subgenre.

Sebastian OB, Weary? I wish that there were...More Superhero Films each year. Outside of, 2008, where 7 comics adaptions were released. With The Avengers, Batman, Superman, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Dredd arriving on the silver screen in, 2012, it should be the most...Super year for Superhero Cinema. There simply will never be enough Superhero films for me.

I finally caught Iron Man 2 last week. Just tired me out for the time being. Of the films you listed Fleed, the few I have any interest in is because of who is making them and not because of the comic book characters they are based around.

Yep, really surprise we haven't seen Jon Hamm attached to one of these comic book super hero movies (beyond rumors that is).

Abbott & Prospero, I do like some of the directorial choices, but for the most part I interested, in all these Superhero Films, for the subject matter alone.

P.S. Kilowog looked cool for .35 of a second.

It makes me sad that there is apparently not enough room in the movie world to let the public have both. Everything seems so hell bent not just on making a character "serious" but also pseudo scientifically realistic.

I am happy Green Lantern even gets to wear anything even resembling a uniform. All these costume-less "heroes" out there can suck it.

Oh, I love this. We shouldn't criticize a bad filmmaker anymore because it's a cliche. Let's give him a pass just because he's been around for a while, and we're tired.

As long as Tony Scott continues to suck as a storyteller, he deserves to be taken down for it, regardless of how much of a cliche you think it is. Sorry. It isn't knee-jerk, it's reality.

A fun space opera with a fun lead (IMO). I'll remain optimistic, unfinished FX and ET butchering aside.
I don't have to imagine. According to history books, that very movie became COBRA.

Darkmite8, Well that is a...great reason, for turning down, Beverly Hills Cop. Cobra, is one of the most...Awesome cop movies ever!

And the world wept.

The CGI looks very unfinished, but they still have another half a year to work on it so it's not a big concern for me. This teaser doesn't tell you much, but it looks okay and I'll withhold judgement until we get a full trailer for GL. At least Reynolds is in his usual charismatic self.

I don't live in your world.