ryan reynolds | the m0vie blog

Something Sinestro This Way Comes…

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Darren

Note that this article contains spoilers for Green Lantern. So I waited until the movie was released to post it. They aren’t exactly huge spoilers, but consider yourself warned.

It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell that Sinestro is going to end up evil. Created in the sixties, the character was introduced to fans as a rogue Green Lantern, so he wasn’t ever designed to be seen as a good guy in four-colour style. In fact, the guy is red, has an evil moustache and is played by Mark Strong. Although the name Sinestro could arguably refer to the fact he wears his ring on his left hand, it isn’t exactly a name that inspires implicit trust. So his path to the dark side in the intended-franchise-launcher Green Lantern shouldn’t be a surprise.

However, it really demonstrates a lot of the key flaws with the movie.

Not quite mellow yellow...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Abin Sur, betrayal, comic books, fear, green lantern, green lantern corp, hal jordan, mark strong, martin campbell, parallax, Peter Sarsgaard, ryan reynolds, sequel hooks, sinestro, sinestro corps, sinestro corps war, spoilers, Tomar-Re, Triumph of the Will | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Green Lantern

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Darren

Green Lantern is solidly middle of the road as far as superhero movies go. Perhaps in a less crowded (and less high quality) summer action season it would seem a stronger contender, but the film really shows as Warner Brothers’ first major attempt to produce a big-budget superhero film not directly related to Superman or Batman. It’s perfectly functional, managing to do everything it sets out to in a relatively efficient manner, but there’s never really a sense that the film exists as anything more than a series of plot points that need be checked in order for the movie to cross the finish line. Given the potential of the source material, as well as its relatively unique nature amongst the slew of generic superheroes, a functioning and formulaic adventure can’t help but feel like a bit of a disappointment.

Hal Jordan: Space Cop? It has a nice ring to it...

Note: We also have an introduction to the Green Lantern mythos available, if you’re interested in checking it out.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Blake Lively, dc comics, dc universe, geoff johns, Geoffrey Rush, green lantern, green lantern corps, green lantern film, green lantern film review, green lantern movie, green lantern movie review, Greenlantern, hal jordan, Hector Hammond, in blackest night, in brightest day, lois lane, mark strong, martin campbell, michael clark duncan, michael clarke duncan, non-review review, parallax, Peter Sarsgaard, review, richard donner, ryan reynolds, sinestro, tim robbins, Warner Bros, Warner Brothers | 10 Comments »

Justice for the JLA: Warner’s New Stand-Alone Superhero Team-Up…

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Darren

News broke during the week that Warner Brothers are planning a new Justice League movie, apparently for 2013. Reportedly Ryan Reynolds has not been approached to play the Green Lantern in the film, and – based on comments from both film makers – it’s unlikely that Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot or The Dark Knight Rises will play into the film in any meaningful way. One might consider that something of a marketing faux pas, as that would represent a fairly intense lead-in into the movie (as opposed to the four-odd years Marvel has been teasing The Avengers). Indeed, it has been suggested that the proposed Justice League movie might stand entirely on its own two feet, completely distinct from the superhero movies that Warners are churning out. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this was exactly the plan with the company’s last aborted attempt at a Justice League film.

Justice for all?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Batman in film, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, ensemble, film, green lantern, jla, justice league, Movies, ryan reynolds, spotlight, superhero ensemble, superman, teams, Warner Bros, zack snyder | 2 Comments »

Four Minutes of Green Lantern from WonderCon..

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Darren

Now we’re talking.

I am very excited about Warner Brothers’ upcoming Green Lantern, despite some of the difficulties with the first trailer. This second batch of footage has significantly restored my faith, even if it doesn’t address all my concerns from the last footage (bad dialogue and a god-awful comic relief character). At least the CGI looks better, even if there’s still work to do on the costume. Here’s hoping they can pull it together before the release date in June.

If you’re looking for an introduction to the character, why not have a look at our handy introduction.

I like the tone of it much better. It’s less “generic superhero” (which was a dumb approach in a market over-saturated with superhero films) and more “epic space opera”, which I hope might set it apart from the competition. I always though that the “space opera” angle would be the right one to push with the character, as it has a wonderful Star Wars vibe to it.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cgi, Computer-generated imagery, green lantern, Green Lantern: First Flight, hal jordan, ryan reynolds, Warner Bros, WonderCon | 1 Comment »

Green Lantern 101: A Beginner’s Guide to The Green Lantern Mythos…

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Darren

The trailer for Green Lantern arrived yesterday. I’m already excited about the release. However, I acknowledge that Hal Jordan isn’t quite the household name that Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent is. So I put together this collection of frequently asked questions about Green Lantern, which will hopefully give you a bit of an introduction to the character. If this proves popular, I might do the same for Thor or Captain America, the other major comic book releases of next year. Check out the trailer below.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Abin Sur, bruce wayne, clark kent, comic books, faq, film, frequently asked questions, GoldenEye, green lanter trailer, green lantern, green lantern 101, green lantern movie, hal jordan, Hector Hammond, iron man, Kyle Rayner, martin campbell, Movie, questions, ryan reynolds, sueprheroes | 14 Comments »

I [heart] High Concept Posters

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Darren

This is the poster for Buried, the indie thriller which is based around the idea of Ryan Reynolds being buried alive. I love a good high concept thriller (think Phone Booth or Cellular, for example) – but I especially love a cool high concept poster.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: buried, films, Movies, poster, ryan reynolds | 10 Comments »

Non-Review Review: X-Men Origins – Wolverine

Posted on October 28, 2009 by Darren

Well, at least it’s an action movie that acknowledges its pointlessness. It isn’t a spoiler to point out that – since Wolverine doesn’t remember his origin in X-Men and has to reminded in X-Men II – none of the events here have any real importance to the character development of the Canadian superhero. The audience knows buying a ticket that anything he learns will be erased and lost and that the film itself is just an explosion-filled flashback which, even if had something worth saying, would be pointless anyway. That said, it does deliver somewhat convincing action sequences and two very good leading performances.

The other man of steel...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: danny hueston, Deadpool, gavin hood, liev schreiber, Movies, non-review review, review, ryan reynolds, wolverine, x-men, X-Men Origins, X-Men Origins: Wolverine | Leave a comment »

Still Dead Set on Deadpool…

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Darren

Looks like Robert Downey Jnr. isn’t Hollywood’s only two-franchise man at the moment – apparently Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool is still on the cards, at least according to the character’s creator. This is interesting not just because Reynolds will be the leading man in two major superhero productions (and possibly franchises) in the coming years, but also because he will be the first leading man to work with both DC Comics and Marvel Entertainment at the same time. Sure, he was in Blade III, but we don’t count that. It never happened. And I doubt he’d disagree with us on that.