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SDCC '10: Mr. Beaks Assesses The WB Panel! GREEN LANTERN, HARRY POTTER, SUCKER PUNCH And Scott Glenn Discussed!
Beaks here…
Warner Bros. came to Comic Con playing a little defense this year. Last week, the debut of Ryan Reynolds in the GREEN LANTERN costume elicited a decidedly mixed reaction from fans. Though it was hardly a travesty of the outfit (which has been tweaked several times over the years), some felt that it looked a bit too cartoony. Rubbery, ugly… just not what was expected. And so, in the grand fanboy tradition, this mild disappointment was suddenly inflated into a searing indictment of the film‘s eventual quality.
Today’s big Hall H panel seemed the perfect opportunity to put these concerns to rest. The sour taste of this less-than-thrilling still picture of Reynolds in costume could easily be washed out with just a glimpse of Hal Jordan in action as the Green Lantern.
This was something that Warner Bros. and director Martin Campbell were not prepared to do. Don't panic, folks.
The emphasis of the ninety-second tease that kicked off the studio’s highly anticipated Saturday panel seemed to be tone. If WB couldn’t show Ryan Reynolds battling evildoers in the costume, they were going to win over the Hall H audience by playing to their affection for the world of the character. I think they got away with it. Though it’s impossible to make any kind of judgment call based on less than two minutes of unfinished footage (from a film that’s still in production), I didn’t see anything in the flurry of disconnected shots that pissed me off as a Green Lantern fan: the earthbound stuff looked fine, Reynolds cuts a convincingly heroic figure as test pilot Hal Jordan, the half-second shot of Oa made me happy; Tomar-Re’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance made me smile*; and, most importantly, we did get to see Jordan summoning a big green fist to clobber a trio of thugs.
Was it mind-blowingly awesome? Nope. But what do you expect from a movie that won’t hit theaters until next June? I suppose they could’ve shown us animatics (like Marvel did with the War Machine sequence from IRON MAN 2 last year), but, again, if they’re not happy with the look of the costume, why run the risk of generating more bad buzz?
Following the footage, Reynolds, Campbell, Blake Lively (Carol Ferris), Mark Strong (Sinestro), Peter Saarsgard (Hector Hammond), producer Donald De Line, Geoff Johns and writer/producer Greg Berlanti took to the stage for an entertaining Q&A that went a long way toward quelling any lingering disappointment over the paucity of actual Green Lantern action. Campbell addressed the Ngila Dickson-designed suit issue early, stating that the CG rendering of it is “always a work in progress.” He said the idea is that it’s actually more of a skin than a costume, and was very confident that the final version of it will look “really cool”.
Some are going to start worrying that GREEN LANTERN is a disaster in the making based on this oddly unenthusiastic showing, but the film is just at an awkward stage of production. What really hurt GREEN LANTERN this weekend was an uncertain marketing push and one so-so image. The filmmakers had nothing to do with that. Give them time to finish their movie.
(One aside: Ryan Reynolds had one of the classiest and coolest moments in the history of the Con when he recited the Green Lantern oath for a young fan. When he finished, he lifted up his hand to reveal that he was wearing the ring. The awestruck look on the kid’s face elicited a chorus of “Awwws!” from the crowd. Reynolds then signed a comic book for the kid. There’s a lot of self-promoting nonsense that goes on during the Q&A periods at these panels, but something like this reminded me what Comic Con is all about. Well done, Mr. Reynolds.)
After GREEN LANTERN, there was a HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS interlude. Tom “Draco Malfoy” Felton was introduced. An extended trailer was screened. It all looked really big and very good. I’d go into detail, but I haven’t read the books, so all I can say is that the two-part finale looks surprisingly bloody.
Finally, Zack Snyder hit the stage to introduce the cast of SUCKER PUNCH, a film that, at the moment, defies description. It’s just your average girl-gets-institutionalized-and-escapes-into-WWI-fantasy-world-with-robots-and-dragons-and-shit type of movie. I spoke with Zack and Debbie Snyder later in the day, and they did a great job of elucidating the crazy business of the narrative. But right now I want to savor the sweet bewilderment of a movie that features a group of cute girls veering from imaginary burlesque shows to trench warfare to god-knows-what-else. This movie looks freaking insane. I mean, did you ever think you’d see lovely little Emily Browning being mentored in the way of the samurai by Scott Glenn? And how great is it to see Alan Shepard swinging the steel again (hopefully, you‘ve seen John Frankenheimer’s THE CHALLENGE)?
I’ve been hearing for a while now that SUCKER PUNCH was going to be a hard R-rated action flick, so I was surprised to hear Snyder say that he thinks a PG-13 is possible. Basically, it comes down to the fact that they’re killing more beasts and zombies than actual people (a distinction which helped Peter Jackson’s LORD OF THE RINGS immensely with the ratings board).
I’ll have more to say about SUCKER PUNCH when I run my interviews with the Snyders, Browning and Jamie Chung.
And here endeth my recap of the Warner Bros. panel. Not an invigorating presentation overall, but, GREEN LANTERN aside, you can’t argue with the high quality of the footage.
*You'll also get to see Kilowog and other favorites from the Corps. Also, in what might've been a slip of the tongue, Reynolds revealed that Parallax will figure into the story.
Readers Talkback
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They are all blurring together.
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make an appearance? and how butch was the ring?
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wake me up when green lantern is turning up in green hornet!
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who gives a shit about a fag
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I knew there was a reason I liked that guy beyond him having some talent.
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jordan was always boring<p>the only time he wasnt was during the lantern/arrow series<p>not sure why everyone is freaking on the suit...the suit has changed over the years<p>i hear alot of potter fans were pissed that warners didnt spend the caishe to bring in the entire cast...hey dorkos, they didnt even need to have a presentation this year...the films will sell themselves<p>if sucker punch isnt r...im not going...that means no boobies...
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July 25, 2010, 12:06 a.m. CST
I like Ryan as Hal a whole let better than Evans as Cap!
by HollywoodHellraiser
I think GL is gonna be bigger than Cap and maybe Thor combine!
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July 25, 2010, 12:06 a.m. CST
"the idea is that it’s actually more of a skin than a costume"..
by Thanos0145
Mr. Campbell needs to realize that IT IS A COSTUME, not a Venom symbiote.<p>Hopefully, DC Ent. will make the correct changes.<p>Where was the DC movie news on the various characters? A very sad and weak showing by DC Ent.
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the male cast was servicing fat comic-con attendees that love all things Stargate in a vain attempt to stave off cancellation.<p> Hey! wait a minute Diox you're fat and a Stargate fan why weren't you there?
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Both wear the same mask. It's kind of weird both movies showing up roughly around the same time. I guess hollywood's just trying that much harder to get us all to go green.
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I'm glad they're a troubled production... it'll keep em on their toes and make em try harder. All the great blockbuster films are usually 'troubled'... Star Wars, Jaws, Superman, Dark Knight. It certainly looks like they care about the end product and I, personally, am routing for Reynolds to pull this role of. It;s not just about the costume, he has to define Hal Jordan.
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<P>As long as it's a reasonably faithful interpretation (a subjective measure, I know), I'll be content. But, Parallax? What?</P> <P>I don't suppose those images of Oa, Tomar-Re or other Corp members will be popping up anytime soon?</P>
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July 25, 2010, 12:53 a.m. CST
im not fat, im handsome looking with a touch ruggedness
by DioxholsterReturns
i make stargate fans look good
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"Hal Jordan in action as the Green Hornet" seriously dude.
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and unlike spiderman Green Lantern doesn't wear a suit, he projects one made of energy, so if the producers of this film are feeling creative, I say go for it.
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He confuses lantern with hornet and he thinks bring it on is better then the dark knight. Add all that up and you equal retard!
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For shame.
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Yeah, because Vertical Limit, Legend of Zorro and Edge of Dakness were all so good...
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James Cameron learned this years ago.
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Does his ring make double-ended dildos?
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as they are green lighting(sorry ) a sequel already.
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Wow, WB... what were you thinking? I'm a fan of the Green Lantern costume. It's pitch perfect. Were the design elements unexpected? Yes. But when I looked at the pulsing light filling the veins between the fibers, I had the same feeling I got when Hugh Jackman's Wolverine first popped his claws forward between his knuckles instead of out the back of his hand. "Of course! That makes perfect sense."<br> <br> Okay, so the costume will be a polarizing element. That they released the image so far in advance with nothing to back it up is ridiculous. I can picture it clearly, though. They are proud of it. I would be. Yet somehow the studio heads still aren't in sync with what happens to altered beloved imagery, no matter how cool and well thought out it is, once it hits the modern networked public. It's like bringing your penis to Show and Tell, proud of your little monster, and having your classmates laugh at it when you bring it out. Ouch.<br> <br> A good friend and coworker of 12 years is taking a six-month sabbatical from work to work on The Green Lantern. He'll be in Albuquerque for six months as an animator. He doesn't leave for another three weeks.<br> <br> He doesn't leave for another three weeks.<br> <br> I understand the studio wanting to plant the seed early, but man. when my friend the animator has six full months ahead of him... Mr. Beaks is right. Let the filmmakers finish their movie.
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Have more hope for GL compared to Cap and Thor, and a shitload more compared to the Avengers.
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Lucky bastard. ☺
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If WB ruins GL, and it sounds like they're damn close to it, I am gonna be one unhappy chappy.
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It'll be maddeningly "okay," mediocre, like the lions share of the Marvel movies. Like: "Wow, this *COULD'VE* been great if [insert totally legitimate gripe here]." Sigh. Oh well, comics are way more fun than the movies anyway' way more into actively reading than passively watching.
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balancing action, character development, pacing and making the Bond franchise new. Will do the same with GL. Gotta have decent special effects but w/o the story GL could be IM2.
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and with GA short included. Should wash the taste of all that Scott Pilgrim crap you-know-who has been posting.
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LEGEND OF ZORRO. Anybody want to toss out VERTICAL LIMIT as a tie-breaker?<P>Trust your surgeon. Trust your child's baby-sitter. These are important persons to have trust in. A movie director? Not so much.
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You mean the dumbest Batman story since "Hush?"<P>Ooh boy! Looking forward to that one?
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How can you not applaud that? Top bloke.
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and danced around a pole in 5" stilettos and a thong. Otherwise...eh...
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Which might have been cooler.
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Hopefully, a future JLA movie could look as cool as this.<p>http://tinyurl.com/25753uu
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Great story-no but it looks good, like the cast and DC is more hit than miss with their videos.
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Is freaking incredible.
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Is freaking incredible.
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Not being a huge fan of DC, I don't have a strong enough connection with GL to get up in arms over the changes to the costume. It looked reasonably fine as a design to me. My real concern is that it's always going to look like obvious CGI which will date the movie drastically. Ang Lee's "Hulk" looks ridiculous because of the cartoon nature of the CGI, which looked pretty strong at the time it was released. It's a huge gamble to do a digital costume... Hell, even in Tron 2, where it would make sense to go all-digital, they opted to create real costumes that actually light up instead of doing it digitally. Ultimately, I don't think they were unhappy with the design of the GL costume until the internet backlash hit on it... and I'm not sure that redesigning elements is going to fix what's drawing the complaints.
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I'm kind of burnt out on apocalyptic last battles, and again not being all that deep into DC, I wasn't as jazzed as I might have been. I prefer to see heroes fighting for something, rather than just fighting. Some definitely cool shots in there though, and it's always great to hear Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill go at it.
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guys, check out my Inception spoof at www.fumpdibbidy.blogspot.com
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"Relax Jonesy, you sold me..."
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Are there people who actually own a PS3? I've never met one. Eagerly anticipating the inevitable XBox 360 version when they realize they can't exclusively sell games to a nearly nonexistent market.
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I thought it was good fun. Not as great as the original, but it didn't deserve such a mean-spirited critical thrashing. It was certainly better than Indy 4.
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July 26, 2010, 8:43 a.m. CST
I thought this was about a Potter fan sucker punching with a pen
by Tikidonkeypunch
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Seriously, all this debate over the costume...the average person doesn't even know who Green Lantern is...who gives a shit, who gives a fuck. suck a dick.
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Mostly, it needs some dark gray or black in it, at least 30% or so. Use the comics costume as a guide, it's iconic and would've translated over perfectly if they'd have chosen that direction. Also, maybe some white highlights or something? And the mask needs a lot of work so get on it. Get over the "it's not a costume, it's a skin" deal. It's Green Lantern, not the Guyver and besides, no one wants to see Green Full-Size Ken Doll Lantern. More "costume" or "uniform", less "it's a skin".
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I was pissed when I watched X-men Origins. Because they screwed up DP. Which made me not like Ryan Reynolds as much as I do like him. I was a fool. This movie will be good. I just hope Martin Cambell avoids hiring people with accents you can't understand! Just kidding. But really. Don't do it.
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Like Laserpants said, which I could not say any better. That reading the material is where you win. I haven't picked up a comic in a long time. I'm waiting for Doorways though. Still need to finish Y: The Last Man. I might pick up a Deadpool comic or something from DC. Plus there are hundreds and hundreds of novels that have no pictures and only images you create with your mind, that I will be reading soon.
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...as Roland in The Dark Tower adaptation, if it ever gets going.
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