History YMMV / GreenLantern

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[[folder: Comics]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: 2011 Film]]
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Reviews mostly pan the soundtrack, disappointed in Music/JamesNewtonHoward for making little more than uninteresting background music. Still, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw4KQSA6-Vk We're Going to Fly Now]] is one great cue for the character Green Lantern and a WhatCouldHaveBeen for soundtrack fans.
* BrokenBase:
** Hal's AdaptationalComicRelief, done by the writers to take advantage of Creator/RyanReynolds's comedic talents. Some fans love it for making an bland character interesting while others think [[WhatTheHellCastingAgency it was a horrible casting choice]].
** The Green Lantern costume. Some fans argued that it being a glowing CGI construct made sense since it's supposed to be created by the ring, while others argued that it looked silly and was a needless waste of CGI. This is exacerbated by Green Lantern's classic comic outfit often being held up as one of the best superhero outfit designs of the Silver Age.
** For some, the inclusion of Parallax as Hal's first major villain. Many people could see this as too high of a villain for Hal to defeat for his first adventures as a superhero considering his major influence to the Green Lantern lore and the reason why they go for ''Film/ManOfSteel'' as the first movie to kickstart the DCEU.
* CantUnHearIt: Fans like to read Kilowog's lines in the voice of Creator/MichaelClarkeDuncan.
* ClicheStorm: Those who dislike the movie consider it to be this; those who do enjoy it, however, consider it to be a decent film that's very [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools campy and doesn't take itself too seriously]].
* CriticalBacklash: If you read some online reviews like at Amazon.com, a lot of people are saying "I liked the movie, I don't get why the critics absolutely hated it..."
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** As mentioned below in OneSceneWonder, the other members of the Green Lantern Corps like Kilowog and Tomar-Re were liked despite their small role.
** Most people agree that Sinestro looked great and was written and acted perfectly.
* MisBlamed: For a time, this happened to Creator/RyanReynolds due to the film's lackluster reception, by none other than the ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} fandom; after ''Green Lantern'''s release, many fanboys began bashing Reynolds for his acting and decrying how he 'ruined Green Lantern' and would most certainly ruin Deadpool, though Ryan Reynolds' acting was one of the few things fans and critics liked in the film. You'd think they wouldn't have needed to worry considering Reynolds had been previously praised for being perfect for Deadpool, but apparently some people had short memories. Fortunately for everyone involved, Reynolds performance in ''Film/Deadpool2016'' and ''Film/Deadpool2'' was received with near-universal acclaim, with most fans hoping that Reynolds will continue to play the character until he is no longer physically capable of such.
* MoralEventHorizon: When Hector Hammond turns two giant flamethrowers on a US Senator [[spoiler:and roasts him alive. To make it worse, the senator is his father.]]
* {{Narm}}:
** Hector Hammond's screaming. Just... really, it doesn't do his level of menace any favors, if he was even considered menacing.
** Parallax, which has been described as a tentacle monster that literally looks like a pile of shit.
* NeverLiveItDown: The CGI costume. Even ''Film/Deadpool2016'' has a line making fun of it.
* OneSceneWonder: Kilowog in the film. In fact, most anything involving the GL Corps in the film.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Even though he was well known in his native UsefulNotes/NewZealand, the actor who played Thomas Kalmaku was Creator/TaikaWaititi, who would later become known among Americans as the director of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' and actor of Korg, which is quite ironic considering how ''Green Lantern'' was {{dueling|Movies}} with ''Film/{{Thor}}''.
* RootingForTheEmpire:
** The hero is a lazy, irresponsible, egotistical {{jerkass}} who never really has to work for his powers, and the villain, a smart, responsible, shy man who's been bullied by his father his entire life. Things get ridiculous when you take into account that the hero [[CharacterDevelopment becomes more responsible and down-to-earth]] while the villain goes AxCrazy and murders his own father.
** Then there's the other guy, the guy meant to be the villain in the sequel that will never be, who is presented as basically being a strong, noble man trying to do what is right, making sure justice is done to the memory of his best friend, and having a crisis of faith in the Corps that he has spent so much of his life serving in.
* SignatureScene: Carol figuring out Hal is Green Lantern is the most remembered part of the movie.
* SoOkayItsAverage: What most fans and the average cinema-goer seemed to think of it. It was seen as the weakest superhero film in the post-Nolan, MCU-Phase 1 era.
* SpecialEffectFailure:
** Noticeable CG is used with the Lantern uniform and constructs.
** Also, all the introductory scenes look ridiculously fake, and there are plenty of times during Hal's training on Oa where it's inescapably obvious that you're watching Ryan Reynolds' head in front of a green screen. Plus, every scene with Sinestro, or any of the aliens actually. With Tomar-Re and Parallax looking like they stepped out of the video game tie-in.
* TaintedByThePreview:
** Many fans were not encouraged by the trailers, partly due to the special effects being underwhelming and also due to the ''Film/IronMan'' vibe.
** This was actually acknowledged by some people in the industry, the first teaser trailer was very underwhelming because they had very little completed special effects to work with. Thus the initial impression made it seem more like a sitcom than a genuine superhero movie. While the later trailers, were much more impressive, it came across as too little too late.
** Probably the biggest problem with the trailers though is just how much they [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil spoiled several plot points]], including the fate of one of the villains.
* ToughActToFollow:
** Not necessarily a ''bad'' movie, but being the first major DC film after ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', ''Green Lantern'' had a lot to live up to comparatively speaking. The comparison isn't exactly fair in the first place, as although they are "superhero" movies within that spectrum, they are in wildly different genres. ''The Dark Knight'' is a crime/vigilante drama, while ''Green Lantern'' is a sci-fi SpaceOpera. Getting to theaters behind ''Film/{{Thor}}'' didn't help things, either.
** For fans of the ''Franchise/{{DCAU}}'', John Stewart ''was'' Green Lantern, and in the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' series, he had the strongest CharacterDevelopment, and likewise was the main vehicle to introduce to the wider Green Lantern lore (Manhunters, Katma Tui, Guardians, other GL). The film by bringing the unfamiliar Hal Jordan, and likewise being highly earth-focused was seen as both inferior and a weak approach to introduce Green Lantern.
* UncannyValley: The "painted" on mask and CGI suit never quite looked right to a lot of viewers. Although considering the uniforms are energy constructs, this may have been a deliberate design choice. The glowing blue eyes as part of Hal's "disguise" are perhaps the worst part.
* UncertainAudience: A common criticism leveled at the film is that it tried to find a middle ground between being targeted towards comics fans and general audiences and ended up pushing both of them away. It's too nerdy for general audiences and not nerdy enough for existing fans.
* TheUntwist: A yellow ring is forged, and... [[spoiler:no one ever actually uses it. Sinestro is still with the Corps at the end and rescues Hal after he collapses post-victory. [[SequelHook Sinestro does put it on during the credits,]] but with the film's planned sequel getting canned, this too ended up going nowhere.]]
* WTHCastingAgency:
** Creator/TimRobbins and Creator/PeterSarsgaard play father and son, respectively. They look around the same age and have no family resemblance.
** Creator/BlakeLively being cast as a character who is supposed to be an incredibly adept pilot and vice president of a company; despite being only 24 years old at the time of filming. Also has some shades of PlayingGertrude when considering that Carol is supposed to be Hal's childhood sweetheart, in spite of a 9 year age difference between Lively and Reynolds (further compounded by some of the other actresses shortlisted for the role - Creator/EvaGreen, Creator/DianeKruger and Creator/JenniferGarner - all of who are much closer in age to Reynolds than Lively).
* WTHCostumingDepartment: The CGI Green Lantern uniforms proved to be pretty divisive among fans.
[[/folder]]

%%** ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'' has Nekron. %%(Zero Context Example)%%

** The characterization of Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku in the 60s. One one hand, the character was a minority in a highly skilled position at Ferris Air, spoke excellent English, and became Hal Jordan's close friend and confidant. On the other hand, his nickname was "Pieface" (as in Eskimo Pie), and he liked to exclaim "great fish hooks!" when shocked. It should be noted that Hal always treated him with respect.

* HarsherInHindsight: During the ComicBook/BlackestNight, Guy and an Indigo Lantern teamed up to fight black lanterns. This was before it was revealed that the Indigo Tribe targets sociopaths and forces them to feel nothing but compassion.

** Similarly, there's the Outsiders member Halo, who has has a multicolored aura. Each color has a different power, except violet which brings out an alternate personality, just like with Carol Ferris in her earlier Star Sapphire incarnation.

** In the very first comic featuring the Green Lantern (then the first incarnation of Alan Scott, when the green light was connected to chinese folklore rather than the Emotional Spectrum), the Lantern's green light was reffered to as [[HaveAGayOldTime "queer"]]. Flash forward to 2012...

** Black Hand killing his family as a prologue to the Blackest Night, simply because Death told him too. Given Flashpoint and [[spoiler:Green Lantern v5 #11]] showed us that simply dying is enough to "rise", it counts.
** Relic massacring the de-powered Blue Lantern Corps, after destroying their Central Power Battery.

** The first version of the Star Sapphire's origin have them chose Carol Ferris as their leader on the basis that they ''have'' to chose a leader who looks exactly like their previous leader. Yeah...

** The Green Lantern Oath associated with the Corps actually was first used by the Golden Age Alan Scott Green Lantern in a 1943 story. See here for details: http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/299/

** Kyle Rayner, as written by Creator/GrantMorrison in ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA JLA]]''. Grant Morrison asked Ron Marz "How would Rayner work in a team book as opposed to a solo one?" The characters were very similar, and Kyle's era was a best seller until Ron Marz left the book. and by that time Morrison was no longer writing JLA. It would be BETTER to say he became a Scrappy during the Creator/JuddWinick[=/=]Ben Raab Era and Ron Marz and Creator/GeoffJohns rescued him from the Scrappy Heap. The only people to whom he was ever a scrappy were [[BrokenBase die-hard Hal Jordan fans]]. Kyle Rayner was the star of the Green Lantern book for ten years, and thus had a generation of ''his own fans'' who couldn't care less about Hal Jordan and thus never saw him as TheScrappy in the first place. To those fans, it was Hal Jordan, and not Kyle Rayner, who was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.
** The Franchise/{{DCAU}} was this for John Stewart when he was used as the primary Green Lantern for ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. After getting several on and off shots at the spotlight John Stewart had more or less faded into obscurity by the time the show went into production, and at the time that the roster was announced he was initially met with disdain by fans who were either angry that the Bruce Timm and his colleagues weren't using Kyle Rayner, who was the current Green Lantern of the comics at the time and had been previously introduced in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', or Hal Jordan, who was the best known Green Lantern among comics fans but who had not appeared in the wider-media at that time (even though Hal was technically dead at the time of the show's creation) and, in some cases, because Timm and co admitted that one of the reasons for using Stewart was because they wanted a black hero to break up what would have otherwise been an all white line up (not counting the ComicBook/MartianManhunter of course). Fortunately, Stewart received enough CharacterDevelopment over the course of the series that fans eventually warmed up to him, and when DC comics bosses noticed this they decided to capitalize on it by making Stewart an important character in the comics again. Some critics even speculate that the reason the 2011 film failed was because general audiences who only knew of the Green Lantern mythos from the DCAU were confused at seeing Hal Jordan being used instead of John Stewart thanks to the exposure the DCAU had given him.

** The hero is a lazy, irresponsible, egotistical {{jerkass}} who never really has to work for his powers, and the villain, a smart, responsible, shy man who's been bullied by his father his entire life. Things get ridiculous when you take into account that the hero [[CharacterDevelopment becomes more responsible and down-to-earth]] while the villain goes AxCrazy and and murders his own father.

* CrazyAwesome:

* EnsembleDarkhorse: As mentioned below in OneSceneWonder, the other members of the Green Lantern Corps like Kilowog and Tomar-Re were liked despite their small role.

* {{Misblamed}}: For a time, this happened to Ryan Reynolds due to the film's lackluster reception, by none other than the Deadpool fandom; after ''Green Lantern'''s release, many fanboys began bashing Reynolds for his acting and decrying how he 'ruined Green Lantern' and would most certainly ruin Deadpool, though Ryan Reynolds' acting was one of the few things fans and critics liked in the film. You'd think they wouldn't have needed to worry considering Reynolds had been previously praised for being perfect for Deadpool, but apparently some people had short memories. Fortunately for everyone involved, Reynolds performance in ''Film/Deadpool2016'' and ''Film/Deadpool2'' was received with near-universal acclaim, with most fans hoping that Reynolds will continue to play the character until he is no longer physically capable of such.

** The hero is a lazy, irresponsible, egotistical {{jerkass}} who never really has to work for his powers, and the villain, a smart, responsible, shy man who's been bullied by his father his entire life. Things get ridiculous when you take into account that the hero [[CharacterDevelopment becomes more responsible and down-to-earth]] while the villain goes AxCrazy and [[MoralEventHorizon and murders his own father]].

* UncertainAudience: A common criticism leveled at the film is that it tried to find a middle ground between being targeted towards comics fans and general audiences and ended up pushing both of them away. It’s too nerdy for general audiences and not nerdy enough for existing fans.

** Creator/BlakeLively being cast as a character who is supposed to be an incredibly adept pilot and vice president of a company; despite being only 24 years old at the time of filming. Also has some shades of PlayingGertrude when considering that Carol is supposed to be Hal's childhood sweetheart, in spite of a 9 year age difference between Lively and Reynolds (further compounded by some of the other actresses shortlisted for the role - Eva Green, Diane Kruger and Jennifer Garner - all of who are much closer in age to Reynolds than Lively).

** Also, all the introductory scenes look ridiculously fake, and there are plenty of times during Hal's training on Oa where it's inescapably obvious that you're watching Ryan Reynolds' head in front of a green screen. Plus, every scene with Sinestro (or any of the aliens, actually).

* CantUnhearIt:
** Most fans are likely to read John Stewart with Creator/PhilLamarr's voice because of WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague.
** Creator/JoshKeaton or Creator/NathanFillion for Hal Jordan.
** Fans like to read Kilowog's lines in the voice of Creator/MichaelClarkeDuncan or Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson.

** Then there's the other guy, the guy meant to be the villain in the sequel that will never be, who is presented as basically being a strong, noble man trying to do what is right, making sure justice is done to the memory of his best friend, and having a crisis of faith in the corps that he has spent so much of his life serving in.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The 2011 film chose Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern and set most of the action on Earth. Many fans feel that John Stewart, the Green Lantern of the DCAU would have been better choice. Most of John's backstory, origin, and characterization in both the comics and cartoons is tied to his cosmic function (his relationship with Katma Tui, his involvement with the destruction of Xanshi, his trial by the Manhunters), which would have made the Green Lantern distinct from Superman (an alien on Earth among earthlings, versus, an earthling in outer space among aliens). The DCAU Lantern, a duty-driven guy with a soft center, being formerly BlackAndNerdy, was a more compelling and modern characterization than the 2011's ''Film/TopGun'' [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]] approach. Likewise, at the time Hal Jordan was known only among comics fans (a very small demographic) and from a brand perspective it made more sense to use a character that already had exposure from a very popular cartoon series. Even Stewart's co-creator Neal Adams said that since John Stewart ''is'' the Green Lantern to a whole generation of kids, it'd make sense to make him the main Lantern in the film, or at least a major supporting character to better set up the sequel (similar to how Rhodey/War Machine was used in the first Film/IronMan film).

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The 2011 film chose Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern and set most of the action on Earth. Many fans feel that John Stewart, the Green Lantern of the DCAU would have been better choice. Most of John's backstory, origin, and characterization in both the comics and cartoons is tied to his cosmic function (his relationship with Katma Tui, his involvement with the destruction of Xanshi, his trial by the Manhunters), which would have made the Green Lantern distinct from Superman (an alien on Earth among earthlings, versus, an earthling in outer space among aliens). The DCAU Lantern, a duty-driven guy with a soft center, being formerly BlackAndNerdy, was a more compelling and modern characterization than the 2011's ''Film/TopGun'' [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]] approach. Likewise, at the time Hal Jordan was known only among comics fans (a very small demographic) and from a brand perspective it made more sense to use a character that already had exposure from a very popular cartoon series. Even Stewart's co-creator Neal Adams said that since John Stewart ''is'' the Green Lantern to a whole generation of kids, it'd make sense to make him the main Lantern in the film, or at least a major supporting character to better set up the sequel (similar to how Rhodey/War Machine was used in the first IronMan film).

** Creator/DwayneMcDuffie had Green Lantern John Stewart, though this was largely part of self-fulfilling prophecy; some fans didn't like Stewart for the way he leapfrogged Kyle Rayner (previously established in the animated canon) and longtime comic GL Hal Jordan to be the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' Green Lantern. This led to [=McDuffie=] (a black creator who was quite vocal on racism within the TV and comic industry, and who had inherited Stewart on the cartoon from the previous showrunner) making some comments equating hatred of Stewart as racism, which led to the widespread notion that Stewart was [=McDuffie=]'s pet character.

** "Help me, Green Lantern. I have no arms." * PUNCH!*

** The Franchise/{{DCAU}} was this for John Stewart when he was used as the primary Green Lantern for ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and ''Justice League Unlimited''. After getting several on and off shots at the spotlight John Stewart had more or less faded into obscurity by the time the show went into production, and at the time that the roster was announced he was initially met with disdain by fans who were either angry that the Bruce Timm and his colleagues weren't using Kyle Rayner, who was the current Green Lantern of the comics at the time and had been previously introduced in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', or Hal Jordan, who was the best known Green Lantern among comics fans but who had not appeared in the wider-media at that time (even though Hal was technically dead at the time of the show's creation) and, in some cases, because Timm and co admitted that one of the reasons for using Stewart was because they wanted a black hero to break up what would have otherwise been an all white line up (not counting the ComicBook/MartianManhunter of course). Fortunately, Stewart received enough CharacterDevelopment over the course of the series that fans eventually warmed up to him, and when DC comics bosses noticed this they decided to capitalize on it by making Stewart an important character in the comics again. Some critics even speculate that the reason the 2011 film failed was because general audiences who only knew of the Green Lantern mythos from the DCAU were confused at seeing Hal Jordan being used instead of John Stewart thanks to the exposure the DCAU had given him.

* {{Misblamed}}: For a time, this happened to Ryan Reynolds due to the film's lackluster reception, by none other than the Deadpool fandom; after ''Green Lantern''[='=]s release, many fanboys began bashing Reynolds for his acting and decrying how he 'ruined Green Lantern' and would most certainly ruin Deadpool, though Ryan Reynolds' acting was one of the few things fans and critics liked in the film. You'd think they wouldn't have needed to worry considering Reynolds had been previously praised for being perfect for Deadpool, but apparently some people had short memories. Fortunately for everyone involved, Reynolds performance in ''Film/Deadpool2016'' and ''Film/Deadpool2'' was received with near-universal acclaim, with most fans hoping that Reynolds will continue to play the character until he is no longer physically capable of such.

* SpecialEffectsFailure:

* TheScrappy: G'Nort, for mostly being nothing more than TheLoad.
** Relic for being a being an {{Anvilicious}} GreenAesop villain who murdered most of the Blue Lantern Corps. The fact his backstory {{Retconed}} how the Emotional spectrum worked didn't help either.

* MemeticPersonalityChange: In FanWorks focused on the Justice League where Hal is a secondary character, he'll usually be portrayed as a tryhard constantly attempting to prove his worth to the rest of the league. In fact portrayals of him like this are more common now than ones with ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, which is saying something. This has only gained more steam following his appearance in WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie as TheFriendNobodyLikes.

** Interestingly, a few writers ''did'' make Kyle work for his place in the DC Universe. A number of writers, like Creator/GrantMorrison, had characters like [[ComicBook/TheFlash Wally West]] look down on the rookie Lantern for just being there and made to bust his chops to earn his place in the greater scheme of things.

** Creator/BlakeLively being cast as a character who is supposed to be an incredibly adept pilot and businesswoman; despite being only 24 years old at the time of filming.

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/TimRobbins and Creator/PeterSarsgaard play father and son, respectively. They look around the same age and have no family resemblance.

** Green Lantern and Flash always tend to evoke this, no matter which Flash or Lantern it is. Alan/Jay, Hal/Barry, Wally/Kyle and Wally/John in the DCAU, etc. Bart and Guy are the only two who don't have this with anyone from the other side of the dynamic, mostly because Bart is too busy having it with Robin and Superboy and Guy is too busy having it with Kyle.

** [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Ayria]], from ''Green Lantern Corps Quarterly'' #7's one-shot "Triumph of the Will", is a vicious, corrupt Green Lantern who uses his powers to oppress the residents of Aegri Somnia. Ayria has his forces brutally slaughter their way through the rebelling yellows on Aegri Somnia 2, resulting on millions of casualties on both sides, before establishing a holocaust and sending the yellows who remain into labor camps where they slowly and agonizingly perish by the millions to [[HumanResources fuel Ayria's power battery]]. A [[TheCaligula paranoid despot]] unable to take any form of perceived challenge to his rule, Ayria viciously tortures to death several members of his staff--including his own brother--for reasons as varied as apparent treachery to as petty to having no faith in his rule, and ultimately orders every single remaining yellow to be sent to the camps and executed after torturing one who swallows his ring--ultimately resulting in Ayria's downfall when the ring resonates with the dead yellow's will to resurrect the billions Ayria has killed to tear him to bloody shreds. An unrelenting dictator, Ayria proves even the ostensibly righteous Green Lanterns aren't immune to pure evil in their ranks.

* MemeticLoser: It's either Hal, for losing his mind despite supposedly being one of the most willful individuals in the universe and [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis becoming his own antithesis]] ([[AdaptationDisplacement and having a panned movie]] and generally being the least liked lantern) or Kyle for [[TraumaCongaLine not being able to catch a break to save his life]].

* MemeticLoser: It's either Hal, for losing his mind despite supposedly being one of the most willful individuals in the universe and [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis becoming his own antithesis]] ([[AdaptationDisplacement and having a panned movie]] and generally being the least liked lantern) or Kyle for [[TraumaCongaLine not being able to catch a break to save his life]].

* MemeticPersonalityChange: In FanWorks focused on the Justice League where Hal is a secondary character, he'll usually be portrayed as a tryhard constantly attempting to prove his worth to the rest of the league. In fact portrayals of him like this are more common now than ones with ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, which is saying something. This has only gained more steam following his appearance in WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie as TheFriendNobodyLikes.

* {{Misblamed}}: For a time, this happened to Ryan Reynolds due to the film's lackluster reception, by none other than the Deadpool fandom; after ''Green Lantern''[='=]s release, many fanboys began bashing Reynolds for his acting and decrying how he 'ruined Green Lantern' and would most certainly ruin Deadpool, though Ryan Reynolds' acting was one of the few things fans and critics liked in the film. You'd think they wouldn't have needed to worry considering Reynolds had been previously praised for being perfect for Deadpool, but apparently some people had short memories. Fortunately for everyone involved, Reynold's performance in ''Film/Deadpool2016'' was received with near-universal acclaim, with most fans hoping that Reynolds will continue to play the character until he is no longer physically capable of such.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Even though he was well known in his native UsefulNotes/NewZealand, the actor who played Thomas Kalmaku was Creator/TaikaWaititi, who would later become known among Americans as the director of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', which is quite ironic considering how ''Green Lantern'' was {{dueling|Movies}} with ''Film/{{Thor}}''.

%%** ''ComicBook/WrathOfTheFirstLantern'' has Volthoom. %%(Zero Context Example)%%