Green Lantern (2011) - Action and Reynolds/Lively cast sparks in Campbell's massive flop

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Ryan Reynolds in a green CGI-suit in a neon-drenched CGI universe on this poster for Martin Campbell's Green Lantern

Hal is a jet pilot and a daredevil, who is chosen by the ring of dying green guardians to become one of the protectors of the universe and the green lanterns, when the evil Parallax strikes.

Green Lantern is written by Greg Berlanti (Arrow (2012-20)), Michael Green (Sex and the City (1998, TV-series)), Marc Guggenheim (Supergirl (2017-19)) and Michael Goldenberg (Peter Pan (2003)), based on the DC Comics characters started by Martin Nodell in 1940, and directed by Martin Campbell (The Sex Thief (1973)).

The pace - not least in the action scenes - animatedly fierce and often spectacular in this fresh piece of superhero escapism. Its comic book-like lightness and irony makes it comparable to the later, successful Guardians of the Galaxy movies (2014; 2017). The plot is more than simple, cruising around fear versus willpower, and one shouldn't expect everything to make logical sense in Green Lantern.

But Ryan Reynolds (Smokin' Aces (2006)) gives his character his own brand of wry humor and sympathetic charisma, and his romance with Blake Lively (Accepted (2006)), - which continued backstage, - makes for some sexy sparks.

All in all Green Lantern is quite a lot better than its reputation may make you think and fairly good entertainment.

 

Related post:

 

Martin Campbell: GoldenEye (1995) - Brosnan arrives in Campbell's dumb Bond mess

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 200 mil. $ (some uncertainty; could likely be 209 mil. $)

Box office: 219.8 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.95-1.09 times its cost)

[Green Lantern was released 14 June (New Zealand) and runs 114 minutes. Many people were in talks to head the film since the late 1990s. Berlanti has since stated that he was fired as writer and director and had "nothing to do with the finished product." Shooting took place in Louisiana, including New Orleans, and in California, including San Diego, from March - August 2010 and January - March 2011. Reynolds injured his shoulder during filming in July 2010. It has been reported that Warner Bros. raised the film's VFX budget with 9 mil. $ in post production to meet the release deadline, - but curiously this has not made the 200 mil. $ cost tag bounce to 209 mil. $. The film opened #1 to a 53.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#3) and grossed 116.6 mil. $ (53 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Mexico with 12.4 mil. $ (5.6 %) and Brazil with 10.2 mil. $ (4.6 %). An additional 100 mil. $ were reportedly spent on marketing. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/5 star review, equal in rating to this one. Sequel plans were scrapped; a reboot has not materialized; but a Green Lantern TV-series is reportedly in development at HBO. Green Lantern is rotten at 26 % with a 4.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Green Lantern?

Man of Steel (2013) or, Superman v Zod: Sunset of Destruction

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Superman shoots for the sky on this animated poster for Zack Snyder's Man of Steel

 

Kal has been sent to Earth by his desperate parents to protect him from the destruction of evil ruler Zod. But evil finds him nevertheless, and his Kryptonite super-powers become necessary.

Man of Steel is a Superman franchise reboot written by David S. Goyer (Blade II (2002)), with story elements by Christopher Nolan (Following (1998)), based on the DC character by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created in 1938, and directed by Wisconsinite master filmmaker Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead (2004)).

The film starts promising with grand drama on Krypton. For some reason many years then pass, before Zod attacks Superman and planet Earth. Michael Shannon (Dead Birds (2004)) gives Zod a raging edge, but the film is over-filled with exposition; story-setting dialog and uneven generalizations as well as a few jarring uses of expletives.

The CGI effects are impressive, even when product placements are obviously the driving motif for some of them, but Man of Steel worships major destruction to an unnecessary degree.

Henry Cavill (Night Hunter (2018)) is buff beyond reason, - and sexy too, - but as in the past the problem is that the empathetic and flawless Superman is simply not an exciting (or relatable) character. He is too smooth, too ... super. It doesn't help matters that Hans Zimmer's (Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)) score, - drumming and industrial, - inevitably leads one's thoughts to Nolan's similarly dark but endlessly better three Batman spectacle pictures, which are forever linked to Zimmer's musical style.

Snyder does not manage here to refurbish the to some degree simply unmanageable Superman into the sensation that was needed.

 

Related posts:

 

Zack Snyder: Wonder Woman (2017) - Jenkins' idealistic, thrilling adventure is the best earnest superhero movie in years (story elements)

300: Rise of an Empire (2014) - Murro's off-putting 3D bore sequel (co-writer)

Dawn of the Dead (2004) - Snyder's great remake of Romero's classic

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 225 - 258 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 668 mil. $

= Box office success (returned between 2.58 - 2.96 times its cost)

[Man of Steel premiered 10 June (New York) and runs 143 minutes. Development began in 2008 in direct contention with the underwhelming Superman Returns (2006) by Bryan Singer. Shooting took place from August 2011 - January 2012 in British Columbia, including Vancouver, Illinois, including Chicago and in California. The film opened #1 to a 116.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#5) and grossed 291 mil. $ (43.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 63.4 mil. $ (9.5 %) and the UK with 46.1 mil. $ (6.9 %). According to Deadline.com the team behind the film had etched out 58 mil. $ in gross participation deals. The film reportedly earned 160+ mil. $ from promotional tie-in deals. And it made 119.4 mil. $ from domestic video sales. The film was nominated for a BAFTA, among other honors. Snyder returned with Cavill in even more successful sequel Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Before this Snyder directed short TV documentary Superman 75 (2013). Cavill returned first in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Amy Adams (Serving Sara (2002)) in Her (2013); and Shannon in The Harvest (2013). Man of Steel is rotten at 56 % with a 6.22/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Man of Steel?

Aquaman (2018) - Wan delivers a majorly satisfying, gung ho action-adventure splash

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+ Best Action-Adventure of the Year + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year + Best Superhero Movie of the Year + Breakthrough Actor of the Year: Jason Momoa

An early Comic-Con poster for James Wan's Aquaman, crammed with characters, creatures, colors and action, - and with the stretching, muscular body of its title star in front, - feast your eyes on this awesome poster

Aquaman is the 6th movie in the DC Extended Universe, directly following Justice League (2017), and the first standalone film dedicated to the Aquaman superhero character, who has previously appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and in Justice League. It is written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Orphan (2009)) and Will Beall (Gangster Squad (2013)), with Geoff Johns (Smallville (2009-11)) and great Malaysian co-writer/director James Wan (Saw (2004)) contributing story elements, based on the Aquaman comics, created and started by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger in 1941. 

The son of a human lighthouse keeper and Queen Atlanna of the seas, Arthur as a child learns that he is born with amazing abilities related to the ocean and life there. As a distant royal 'bastard', he is despised by his half-brother, King Orm, as he is forced to step up to protect both surface and sea!

Aquaman works on many levels: Jason Momoa (Road to Paloma (2014)) is an inspired choice to lead, and he gets his cinematic major breakthrough here: Arthur is a perfect fit for Momoa's persona; strong as an ox and a lovable, irreverent drifter, who finds his place as the superhero, who is aided with charm and intelligence by Amber Heard (Paranoia (2013)) as his sexy, fiery red-haired partner and romantic interest. The ensemble cast gathered are an exciting mix of one Wan 'veteran', terrific Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring (2013)) as antagonist Orm, major dramatic stars Willem Dafoe (The Walker (2007)) and Nicole Kidman (The Hours (2002)), a fine, rarely seen New-Zealander actor Temuera Morrison (Once Were Warriors (1994)) and a major break for action veteran Dolph Lundgren (Fat Slags (2004)); voicing creatures Julie Andrews (10 (1979)), John Rhys-Davies (Kim (1984, TV movie)) and Djimon Hounsou (Biker Boyz (2003)) are even enlisted.
The story is as cut of classic, almost Shakespearean fabric; brothers that are opposites, a lost mother, a high-stakes family showdown breaking out. The elaborate layout of the underwater world evokes equal measures of Clash of the Titans (1981), Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and Star Wars, as oceanic battles mirror space-set fighting in parts of the film's 3D-envisioned CGI extravaganza. Aquaman exceeds the previous great DC action adventure Wonder Woman (2017) in terms of wow-effect and scale with the trench scenes especially an imaginative knockout.
Wan succeeds in mixing the compelling story with a sense of fun and gleeful embrace of its genre corniness, which it wears as a badge of honor: Lundgren's very casting, (he comes with campy baggage, which is only fitting), Heard's hair and the semi-comical, great masks and outfits as worn by King Orm and the other villain, Black Manta, revel in the colorful escapade that superhero comics can and should be, - radically opposed to the gloomy realism cultivated in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy (2005; 2008; 2012), a style that was attempted copied without much luck in Man of Steel (2013).
Rupert Gregson-Williams' (Postman Pat (2014)) score is a crisp, 1980's-riffing, bombastic one, almost as great as his work on Wonder Woman. Kym Barrett (Rumor Has It... (2005)) is behind the film's standout costumes, sure to become Halloween and cosplay hits.
Wan continues his great, enviable oeuvre with the brightest, shiniest action adventure in a long while with Aquaman, a sure-footed piece of prime popcorn fodder.

Related posts:

James Wan: 2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The Conjuring 2 (2016) - Wan's sequel is a long horror treat with terrifying periods
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess
The Conjuring (2013) - Best horror film in 7 years   
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
Insidious (2010) - Wan's thrilling, scary ghost horror

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 200 mil. $
Box office: 1,066.9 mil. $ and counting
= Already a big hit (has returned 5.33 times its cost by now)
[Aquaman premiered 26 November (London, UK) and runs 143 minutes. An Aquaman film began development in 2004. Shooting took place in Morocco, Australia, Canada and in Italy from May - October 2017. Some sites list 160 mil. $ as the film's cost, which, if true, would be impressive and make the film's success even greater. It opened #1 to a 67.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it has grossed 306.5 mil. $ to date. It is already the most successful Extended Universe title and the first of them to cross the 1 bil. $ mark. It has set a new December record in China, where it surpassed Wonder Woman's end gross within 3 days. The film has yet to open in one major market; Japan on 8 Feb. The film's ending teases a sequel, which we can expect to be announced soon. Wan does not have his next project made public yet (bet it will be Aquaman 2 though.) Momoa returns with a voice performance in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), in See (TV-series) and in the flesh on the big screen possibly in action-adventure Just Cause. Aquaman is fresh at 64 % with a 6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Aquaman?

Batman Begins (2005) or, Modern, Dark, Smooth Batman

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+ Best Superhero Movie of the Year

A beautiful, hand-painted poster for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins

How did Gotham City's mysterious billionaire Bruce Wayne also become its dark-robed protector and disguised vigilante, the Batman?

 

My favorite superhero returned in 2005 in the hands of English master filmmaker, co-writer/director Christopher Nolan (Inception (2010)) and in the shape of the impressive, Welsh Christian Bale (Rescue Dawn (2006)). Batman Begins is the first in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy of modern, darker, less mythical and more realism-adhering Batman films than what is known from earlier entries in the DC Comics franchise started by Bob Kane and Bill Fingers in 1939.
The action, gadgets and new Batmobile (known as the tumbler) are especially awesome. Nolan uses a minimum of CGI, and refused a second unit to keep his vision consistent throughout the film.
The cast is impressive. To pick out a few of the most noteworthy performances, Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later (2002)) looks good and feels completely right as the villain, Dr. Jonathan Crane who becomes the Scarecrow. Tom Wilkinson (Valkyrie (2008)) is pungent as Gotham's gangster overlord, Carmine Falcone. And Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption (1994)) is handy as Lucius Fox, the series' sympathetic Mr. Gadget.
The script by Nolan and David S. Goyer (Blade (1998)) tells much of Batman's origins, and it works well, except for the one, original character created for the series, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes (The Extra Man (2010))), or Miss Moralizing, who is too close to Mary Jane Watson of Spiderman sugar-sweet to fit the quite dark tone of the film.
Generally, however, Batman Begins is too bereft of sex, filth and really colorful villains to compete with the best of the Batman films, which in my opinion remains Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992), a masterpiece in lavish entertainment, Gothicism, villains and wild eye-candy.
Nolan here launches himself big-time with a solid, dramaturgic construction of the Batman character in one of the most popular films of the 00s, Batman Begins.

 

Related posts:

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises (2012) or, Batman and the Storm, Darkness, Anarchy, Evil, Depression

The Dark Knight (2008) - Nolan's best Batman 

Batman Returns (1992) - Burton gives us the ultimate, Gothic spin on Gotham City and its sinister characters
Batman (1989) - A huge, glitzy, empty joker
Batman the Movie (1966) or, Batman and Robin: Kapow!!!  

Christopher Nolan: 2020 in films - according to Film Excess

Tenet (2020) - Nolan blows smoke up your ass 

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2017 in films - according to Film Excess 
Dunkirk (2017) - Nolan champions cinema with masterful war movie  
Interstellar (2014) - Nolan heads to space in opulent, exciting epic
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) or, Batman and the Storm, Darkness, Anarchy, Evil, Depression
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
Inception (2010) - Nolan's best is a grand piece of action sci-fi, perfectly awesome nonsense 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
The Dark Knight (2008) - Nolan's best Batman 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
Memento (2000) - Nolan's overrated amnesia mindfuck   
Following (1998) - Nolan's ineffectual debut 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 150 mil. $
Box office: 373.6 mil. $
= Even

[Batman Begins premiered 31 May (Tokyo) and runs 140 minutes. Nolan and Goyer were hired for the reboot in 2003. Bale was paid 9 mil. $ for his performance; Liam Neeson (Love Actually (2003)) 2 mil. $; Holmes 1 mil. $. Shooting took place from March - September 2004 in Iceland, England, including in London, Chicago, Illinois and in New York. The film opened #1 to a 48.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3-#5), grossing 205.3 mil. $, which with later re-releases has grown to 206.8 mil. $ (55.4 % of the total gross). It was the 7th highest-grossing film of the year in North America. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 30 mil. $ (8 %) and Mexico with 12.8 mil. $ (3.4 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: For Best Cinematography (Wally Pfister (Moneyball (2011))), lost to Dion Beebe for Memoirs of a Geisha. It was also nominated for 3 BAFTAs, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #126 on the site's Top 250, sitting between For a Few Dollars More (1965) and Dangal (2016). The film had additionally made 167 mil. $ on domestic home video sales by Summer 2006. Bale's Batman returned in Nolan's second in the trilogy, The Dark Knight (2008). Nolan first returned with The Prestige (2006). Bale first returned in The New World (2005). Batman Begins is certified fresh at 84 % with a 7.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Batman Begins?