Green Lantern

***Green Lantern*** is a 2011 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, and Tim Robbins, with Martin Campbell directing a script by Greg Berlanti and comic book writers Michael Green andMarc Guggenheim, which was subsequently rewritten by Michael Goldenberg.[4] *Green Lantern* tells the story of Hal Jordan, a test pilot who is selected to become the first human member of the Green Lantern Corps. Hal is given a ring that grants him superpowers and must confront the evil Parallax, who threatens to upset the balance of power in the universe.

The film first entered development in 1997 and went through development hell until Greg Berlanti was hired to write and direct in October 2007. Martin Campbell was brought on board in February 2009 after Berlanti was forced to vacate the director's position. Most of the live-action actors were cast between July 2009 and February 2010 and filming took place from March to August 2010 in Louisiana. The film was converted to 3D in post-production.

*Green Lantern* was released on June 17, 2011 and received generally negative reviews; most criticised the film for its screenplay, deviations from the comics, choice of villains, and overuse of CGI while some praised Reynolds' performance despite considering the character to be unlikeable. The film underperformed at the box office, grossing just $220 million against a production budget of $200 million. Due to the film's disappointment, Warner Bros. cancelled any plans for sequels. A reboot of the character is scheduled to appear with a new solo film in 2020.

## Plot

Billions of years ago, beings called the Guardians of the Universe used the green essence of willpower to create an intergalactic police force called the Green Lantern Corps. They divided the universe into 3600 sectors, with one Green Lantern per sector. One such Green Lantern, Abin Sur of Sector 2814, defeated the malevolent being Parallax and imprisoned him in the Lost Sector on the desolate planet Ryut. In the present day, Parallax escapes from his prison after becoming strengthened by an encounter with crash survivors on the planet. Parallax then pursues and nearly kills Abin Sur, who escapes and crash-lands on Earth where he commands his ring to find a worthy successor.

Hal Jordan, a cocky test pilot working at Ferris Aircraft, is chosen by the ring and transported to the crash site, where the dying Abin Sur appoints him a Green Lantern, telling him to take the lantern and speak the oath. At home he says the oath and is later whisked away to the Green Lantern Corps home planet ofOa, where he meets and trains with Tomar-Re and Kilowog and Corps leader Sinestro, who believes he is unfit and fearful. Jordan quits and returns to Earth, keeping the power ring and lantern.

Meanwhile, scientist Hector Hammond is summoned by his father, Senator Robert Hammond, to a secret government facility to perform an autopsy on Abin Sur's body. A piece of Parallax inside the corpse enters Hammond, giving him telepathic and telekinetic powers, at the cost of his sanity. After discovering that he was chosen for the secret work only due to his father's influence, Hammond attempts to kill his father by telekinetically sabotaging his helicopter at a party. Jordan saves the senator and the party guests, including his childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris. Later, Hammond successfully kills his father by burning him alive, and Jordan learns of Parallax coming to Earth.

Back on Oa, the Guardians tell Sinestro that Parallax was once one of their own until he desired to control the yellow essence of fear, only to become the embodiment of fear itself. Arguing that the way to fight fear is by fear itself, Sinestro requests that the Guardians forge a ring of the same yellow power, preparing to concede Earth's destruction to Parallax in order to protect Oa. Jordan appears and tries to convince the Guardians that fear will turn the users evil if its power is used, but they reject his pleas, and he returns to Earth to try to defeat Parallax alone feeling defeated.

Upon returning to Earth, Jordan saves Ferris from Hammond. Parallax arrives, consumes Hammond's life force, and then wreaks havoc on Coast City. With new-found strength, Jordan lures Parallax away from Earth and toward the Sun, destroying and killing Parallax. He loses consciousness after the battle and falls toward the sun, but is saved by Sinestro, Kilowog, and Tomar-Re. Later the entire Green Lantern Corps congratulates him for his bravery. Sinestro tells Jordan he now bears the responsibility of protecting his sector as a Green Lantern.

In a mid-credits scene, Sinestro steals the yellow ring and places it on his finger, causing his green suit and eyes to change to yellow.

## Cast

* Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan:

A test pilot for the Ferris Aircraft Company who becomes a Green Lantern and the first earthman ever inducted into the Green Lantern Corps.[5] Reynolds said, "I've known about 'Green Lantern' my whole life, but I've never really followed it before. I fell in love with the character when I met with Martin Campbell".[6] Reynolds called the film "an origin story to a certain degree, but it's not a labored origin story, where the movie begins in the third act. The movie starts when it starts. We find out Hal is the guy fairly early on, and the adventure begins".[7] Alternatively Chris Pine[8] and Sam Worthington[9] had been in discussions for the role. Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto and Justin Timberlake were other top contenders,[10] while Brian Austin Green, a *Green Lantern* fan, campaigned for the part, but ultimately did not audition.[11]
* Blake Lively as Carol Ferris:

The vice president of Ferris Aircraft and a long-time love interest of Hal Jordan.[12] One pseudonymous writer citing unnamed sources said Lively was among five leading contenders that included Eva Green, Keri Russell, Diane Kruger and Jennifer Garner.[13] About her stunt work in which she rehearsed with stunt coordinator Gary Powell (*Casino Royale*, *The Bourne Ultimatum*, *Quantum of Solace*), gymnastic acrobats from *Cirque du Soleil* and used aerial stunt rigs created for *The Matrix*, Lively explained, "Our director likes it real—the fights close and dirty... I'm 40 feet in the air, spiraling around. That's the best workout you can ever do because it's all core... You do that for ten minutes and you should see your body the next day! It's so exhilarating, so thrilling—and nauseating".[14]
* Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond:

A scientist who is exposed to the yellow energy from the fear entity, Parallax, that causes his brain to grow to enormous size, granting him psionic powers.[15] Regarding his preparation for the role, Sarsgaard stated, "I actually did hang with this biologist from Tulane that was I think just the most eccentric guy they could find. He was entertaining, and he and I actually worked on my lecture that I give in [*Green Lantern*]." About his character Sarsgaard remarked, "He's got shades of gray. It's eccentricity on top of eccentricity".[16]
* Mark Strong as Sinestro:

A Green Lantern and Hal Jordan's mentor.[17] Strong affirmed that the film will follow the origin story, "the film closely follows the early comics. Sinestro starts out as Hal Jordan’s mentor, slightly suspicious and not sure of him because obviously Hal is the first human being who’s made into a Green Lantern. He's certainly very strict and certainly unsure of the wisdom of Hal becoming a Green Lantern". Strong said the character "is a military guy but isn't immediately bad. It's the kind of person he is that lends himself to becoming bad over the course of the comics being written, but initially he’s quite a heroic figure.” He also revealed that the outfit and other aspects of the character very closely follow the character's early days, “That widow's peak and thin mustache was for some reason originally based on David Niven.... So I would like to do justice to the Sinestro that was conceived for the comic books”.[18]
* Angela Bassett as Dr. Amanda Waller:

A former congressional aide and government agent.[19] About the differences between the comic book and film character Bassett said, "Well, I’m not 300lbs," but added that her character does have "that intellectual, that bright, that no-nonsense, that means business [personality]. [She's] getting it done and in the trenches nothing fazes her".[20]
* Tim Robbins as Robert Hammond:

A United States senator and the father of the movie's human villain, Hector Hammond.[21]
* Temuera Morrison as Abin Sur:

A Green Lantern who crash lands on Earth and recruits Hal Jordan as his replacement.[22] Morrison said it took four to five hours to put on the prostheticmakeup for the character. About filming with Ryan Reynolds, Morrison commented, "We did the whole scene together where I give him the ring, our suits are CGI so we had these grey suits with things on them so it was cool and working with Martin Campbell again was great too".[23]
* Geoffrey Rush as the voice of Tomar-Re:

A bird-beaked member of the Green Lantern Corps who teaches Hal Jordan how to use his cosmic powers.[24] Rush stated he was not initially familiar with Green Lantern but was drawn to the part after seeing the concept art explaining, "When I got the offer for it I said, ‘Haven’t they made that film?’ They said, ‘No, it’s a completely computer-generated character.’ I saw the artwork and I said, I would love to be that guy. Because I had voiced an owl in *Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole* and I’d voiced a pelican in *Finding Nemo* and I thought I could really improve on that now by being half-bird, half-fish, part lizard. You don’t get to do that in a live-action film." Rush compared the role to previous roles where he played a mentoring figure, "You could say that I’ve mentored Queen Elizabeth I as [Sir Francis] Walsingham, and [Leon] Trotsky has mentored Frida Kahlo and now Tomar Re is going to mentor Hal Jordan, and I was sort of mentoring King George VI in *The King's Speech*. But I can’t imagine Tomar Re setting up an office on Harley Street in London. They’re all very different people to me, but there is a kind of theme I suppose".[25]
* Michael Clarke Duncan as the voice of Kilowog:

A drill sergeant trainer of new recruits for the Green Lantern Corps.[26] About the character, Duncan, a fan of the comic book, stated, "He's a real type of tough guy who knows everything, and actually in one of the comic books he and Superman fought to a tie".[27]
* Taika Waititi as Thomas Kalmaku:

An Inuit engineer at Ferris Aircraft. Waititi said he was cast after a Warner Bros. casting agent saw his performance in *Boy*, which he also wrote and directed. Waititi – who has a Jewish mother andMaori father[28] – says the production "had an opening for a role in the film for someone who wasn't, I don't [know], not-white or not-black."[29]
* Clancy Brown as the voice of Parallax:

A former Guardian of the Universe who was imprisoned by Abin Sur after he was exposed to the yellow energy of fear.
Additionally, Jon Tenney plays Martin Jordan, Hal Jordan's father; Jay O. Sanders portrays Carl Ferris, an aircraft designer and father of Carol Ferris; and Mike Doyle is cast as Jack Jordan, Hal Jordan's older brother.[30][31] Gattlin Griffith, Jeena Craig, and Kennon Kepper play Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris, and Hector Hammond respectively as children.