The film was fantastic. To me much better than Thor and I loved Thor. Not to the caliber of X-Men: First Class but then again that is a different thing altogether really in terms classification of film. Was it a perfect film? No. It definitely didn't spurn the venom that the critics gave it and while the crowd I was with was obviously die-hards (although a large segment had no clue who GL was and it was fun to see other fanboys educating for once) a good number left wondering what the critics were thinking.
The opening sequence was awesome, a history lesson within moments similar to what we saw with The Incredible Hulk although much more animated. Seeing Krona/Parallax released was a quick clear scene just to set the stage.
Reynolds portrays a perfect Hal Jordan. He is much more toned down than I would have imagined and even as I read that he would be I was shocked to see it on-screen. He played the character almost nervous and unsure except when in the cockpit which is very much like the character and his evolution.
Lively played a good Carol, not a great one but definitely not one that needs to be replaced or that gets the wraith she has been. I'm used to seeing Carol as a ballbuster, almost Hal's Lois and she isn't that here but more his compass, keeping him moving forward. Lively is gorgeous and in many of the scenes just her beauty draws the eye, she played her role well.
Tom sucked. Something about the actor and his portrayal just didn't hit what I knew from the books.
Sinestro, Hector, Kilowog, Tomar Re, hell even the Guardians to me were spot on. Sinestro definitely stole the show with every scene he was in. I loved the subtle mentions of creating a ring and then that Sinestro would harness it up to the mid-credits scene of him wearing it. I'm not sure how people didn't get the transitions especially critics if they were paying any kind of attention.
The film suffers from what I call Iron Man syndrome. Where you get a build up of a villain or situation and then it ends quickly or at least much quicker than you would think it would naturally. It doesn't hurt the film here as much because Hal is constantly recalling things from earlier from the jets to the training on Oa to even his own overcoming of fear, so it is more natural but quick nevertheless. Even the track to save the Copter was perfectly shot back to his time with his nephew in his room.
You definitely have Hal who isn't as deep as many probably would have liked but it works, he grows and becomes humbled throughout, different than Thor where he is a hotshot who gains humanity but more of a man who stops running from his fear or his destiny and suddenly accepts it to make it work for him. It's very surface, you won't see Reynolds nominated for any awards for this but it is enough to make the film work.
I got a lot of parallels here from the feel of the first Spider-Man to even the feel of Star Wars. Not in content by any means but when Hal goes through space and hits the wormhole, it brought the same smiles as seeing Han run through hyperspace. The grouping of aliens brought back the same smiles as seeing the Cantina aliens.
The aliens were underused severely. Tomar-Re and Kilowog are likable, they are memorable and you wanted to see them help Hal, take part in it, even Sinestro you wanted to see him get his fingers dirty after watching him with Hal but it wasn't there. There is a lot that was in the "leaks" that didn't make the cut. Some gratefully like the greyed temples nod to Hal's downfall but some I missed like the original banters between Sinestro and Hal about the lantern and pulling it from the pocket that was leaked that never materialized. Or the many cameos that were cut or maybe never filmed.
Hector was done perfectly, not used fully but he garnered more laughs than anything else in my grouping. I'm not sure people grasped what was happening to him.
Overall I would give it an 8.5/10. It could have used some polishing here and there, the middle act definitely drags a bit and that was the point where I saw folks checking phones for time and it slows the pace almost too much. Definitely Campbell's style as I saw that same slow pacing in both Bond films before it ramps up to the third act but I absolutely loved it. If this is the only GL film we get, it's the only one I need.
Finally, I'm not sure what the critics wanted or saw. It's not the Dark Knight and thank god it isn't, Green Lantern wouldn't really work that way. It was really fun and light, laughs just enough and a lot of cool visuals that weren't just for the sake of being done. I thought everything worked great from a casual viewers standpoint, a lot of the girls who were there for Ryan and admitted to knowing nothing about GL, left saying how much they liked it. From a fan of GL's standpoint though I thought it was damn near magical. That last sequence of flight and him moving into the stars made the 7 year old in me cheer and maybe that is what the critics couldn't see, how this was to hit the kid in you as much as the adult cynic.
