New Green Lantern Footage Is Actually Good This Time

The first Green Lantern trailer was...disappointing.  The CGI clearly wasn't at it's best, but moreover it felt phenomenally generic and suffered from downright annoying dialogue.  Since then, the movie has been rather quiet, with little details or buzz coming from studios or conventions.  That all changed at Wonder Con, where new footage was unveiled.  Check it out for yourself.




Let's get one thing straight: this footage is unequivocally better than the theatrical trailer.  There really isn't a comparison.  They've clearly had time to work on the special effects and action, and it shows.  But then again, anyone could have guessed that would happen.  Oa looks pretty snazzy, and showing off the entire Corps was good fun.  And I'm completely digging Geoffrey Rush voicing Tomar-Re.  He's always been one of the goofiest Lanterns in my mind, and they've managed to make him awesome.  Overall the action looked much more kinetic and engaging, and combined with a mysterious soundtrack it has a highly engaging tone and atmosphere.  The final result is something distinctly science-fiction, something Green Lantern can bring to the

And Parallax is starting to look better.  He's great right now as this vague, but we're going to need to see more personality and depth in the design during some of the later conflicts.  A yellow energy entity is menacing, but he needs a bit more to be iconic.  I wouldn't worry to much about that though, and can see Parallax taking on slightly different forms with each scene.

The footage was awesome?  He's surprised too.

But what suffered?  Remember how I said the characters and dialogue were annoying?  Yeah, finishing the special effects can't change that.  Ryan Reynolds is one funny guy, but that humor isn't working as Hal Jordan.  One reason is that his lines just aren't funny, and another might be that he's trying not to be too goofy or quirky with this role.  And apparently, he can't be a badass either.  Take the last line of the trailer, where Hal screams out "Green Lantern's Light!".  Terribly, terribly delivered, and I suddenly have a new found respect for Christian Bale making that deep voice somewhat believable.  And I don't think it's a mystery why Blake Lively wasn't included in this footage.  As for Sinestro, I'm a little dissapointed.  That was the casting choice I was truly excited for.  And as we see the future villain address the rest of his Corps, it only feels... okay.  I'm reminded of Mark Strong's ultimatum given to Parliament at the end of Sherlock Holmes, and get the exact same sense of moderate authority.  Yeah, he's not lame or anything, just not as scene stealing as Sinestro could be. A bit subdued for a speech meant to really an entire army of intergalactic badasses is the best way of putting it.

So overall, Green Lantern is firmly back on track to becoming a solid blockbuster.  If you had asked me last week if I was excited for this movie, I would have given you an entirely different answer.  While I'm still more anxious for Thor and Captain America, Green Lantern has reasserted it's strong sci-fi nature and potential to bring something unique to the genre.  Which is how it always should have been.  But I just can't get through that nagging feeling that Ryan Reynolds isn't cut out for this role, which is my only true complaint for this film.  Regardless, we have three highly unique, fresh takes on superheroes movies and it's going to be an unbelievable summer.  So come on Green Lantern.  We're ready for you.  Show us what you got.