September 2009 ~ The Blog of OA

9/30/09

Green Lantern to film in Mexico?

9/30/2009

More developments about the upcoming Green Lantern live action film came to light today as Inside Film reported that the production may be moving to Mexico.

I reported here some time ago in our update on the film that there were issues with the financing of the film due to the dramatic increase in the value of the Australian dollar and the lack of a locked in deal to secure the exchange rates. According to Inside Film this would drive the budget for the film up by nearly $20 million if it were filmed at Fox Studios in Australia as previously announced. While Warner Brothers is paying the studio for the use of eight sound stages, it is believed that this may be for a different movie. Another rumor is that a lack of space may be adding to the need to change filming locations in addition to the financial issue.

It was rumored that the production might be moving to Louisiana, but the latest news has the filming moving to Mexico instead. Warner Brothers apparently has not made a final decision and one source says that Fox Studios is trying to keep the production in Australia where it would create hundreds of jobs. The last major film shot at Fox Studios was the 2008 Wolverine: Origins film and the loss of Green Lantern could be a major blow to the studio since the increased value in their currency could make them less attractive to Hollywood studios trying to keeps budgets under control.

An interesting comment in the article at Inside Film was that director Martin Campbell apparently has made a number of script revisions that increased the overall budget of the film. Having read the first draft of the script, which I will be reviewing in detail soon, it's interesting to think of what Mr. Campbell might have added.

At this point we'll have to watch and see how all this develops. There's always the fear that the movie could collapse due to the delays, but I really think that won't be the case as Warner Brothers is keen on getting some of their main DC properties out there and Green Lantern is probably not only the closest to being ready to film, but one of the hottest characters going right now. I also doubt they want to see a major delay or to drop the project now having just formed DC Entertainment.

The filming has been moved from November of this year to next spring, but there's been no announcement that this will delay to planned opening of the film in the summer of 2011.

9/30/2009

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Green Lantern #46 came out today and shows us once again just why Sinestro is such a bad-ass! Oh and there's an uber-cool reveal behind the Star Sapphires' power source to boot!

This issue is action packed from cover to cover! As Sinestro and Carol Ferris are fighting off the attack of the Black Lanterns we get a little bit of exposition from Sinestro when Carol cannot understand why her ring is ineffective against the dead, with Sinestro revealing that her ring has no power against them since they are incapable of feeling anything. Just as Amon Sur is about to take on Sinestro, Slushh swallows a number of the Black Lanterns whole which holds them off for, oh, about ten seconds until they rise again and literally burst Slushh's bubble.

Indigo-1 appears with Hal by her side, fresh from teleporting away from the Flash in Blackest Night #3. There's a great scene between Carol and Hal, who was unaware of Carol's acceptance of the Star Sapphire again. Carol's response to Hal's questioning of her sanity was great, "Especially for wearing this uniform" indeed!

We also get a little more information on the way that Black Lanterns can be stopped in the form of an explanation from Hal that Green and any other color from the emotional spectrum makes the rings brittle, allowing them to be shattered. Combining that information with Ray Palmer's theory about the rings wearing the corpses and we're left with the notion that shattering the rings will stop the dead, er, dead in their tracks.

Of course Hal + Sinestro = throw-down so the two of them start going at it. Again, Johns throws in tidbits into the conversation that are callbacks to previous issues, creating for the reader the illusion of this being one comprehensive universe where things are not left forgotten between characters no more than they are in real life. I had to laugh at Hal's insult of Sinestro's hair when Sinestro tries to uncover what Hal was going to ask him a few issues back when Sinestro was about to be executed. We also learn that Indigo-1 and Abin Sur have a history that I hope we'll get to learn more about.

But for me, as I'm sure it is for others, the reveal behind the identity of the two beings that power the Star Sapphires was really cool, although not completely shocking. The two beings Khafu and Chay-ara are both turned into Black Lanterns, leaving the Star Sapphires powerless and their avatar, the Predator, free. So, for those who don't know who Khafu and Chay-ara are, they are the original Egyptian prince and his consort who are killed by the priest Hath-Set and later reincarnate as Carter Hall and Shiera Saunders - yep, the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

After a brief look in with Scar and John Stewart we return to Korugar where Indigo-1 has brought Sinestro, Hal and Carol so that Sinestro can take on Mongol mano a mano. We get a first class battle as Sinestro takes down Mongol while keeping Hal and Carol from helping him - no small feat and one that proves Sinestro is more than a Hitler wannabe. Sinestro is smart enough not to kill Mongol and allow him to be turned in a Black Lantern, but what really interested me was the response from the people of Korugar - they almost appeared to revere Sinestro for saving them. I think that before this event is over we're going to see more about how this might have been a turning point for Sinestro and a redemption of sorts in the eyes of his people. Especially when he steps up and says that he feels that it's his duty to inherit Abin Sur's mission to stop the Blackest Night prophesy from coming true knowing that he cast doubt on Abin's sanity - that event being one of the few regrets Sinestro has in life.

When I first got to this part I wasn't sure why Indigo-1 brought them to Korugar and it wasn't until I thought about it a little bit that it dawned on me the importance of what she tells Sinestro upon their arrival. While she knew that Sinestro wanted and needed to reclaim his leadership of the Sinestro Corps, it is mission critical for all of them that Sinestro regain the position for the overall mission. Back in Blackest Night #3 Indigo-1 reveals to Hal that his connection to the most powerful members of the other colors of the emotional spectrum was the key element to defeating the Black Lanterns. With Mongol in charge Sinestro was no longer that person for the power of fear and in reclaiming that it would allow him to be a part of the key to winning this battle.

With Sinestro back in control he joins Indigo-1, Hal and Carol as the majority of the group needed. Given Sinestro's statements I have no doubt that he will be willing to play his role in this, but it will certainly be a battle between Hal and him to see who will be in charge. Indigo-1 certainly has her work cut out for her!

This leaves an interesting dilemma going forward. While it will be no problem getting Hope to join the party, what of Larfleeze and Atrocitus? Neither of them seem to be the type to go along with anyone's plan but their own. I think the December solicitations could be a key element to part of this. We know by the cover of Green Lantern Corps #46 that Guy becomes a Red Lantern. So perhaps we'll see Guy emerge as the new leader of the Red Lanterns - and he would be far easier for Hal to reason with. Of course the issue ends in true Geoff Johns fashion with a surprise as Abin Sur and Arin Sur arrive in full Black Lantern regalia.

Doug Mahnke's art continues to impress me with every issue. Although I have to nit-pick the inconsistencies in some of the coloring work. Hal's hair is brown, not black. But other than that I felt this issue was definitely worth five lanterns.

Blackest Night Superman #2 Review

9/28/2009

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Of the three initial Blackest Night spin-off miniseries, I've liked the Superman one the best. And maybe that's just because I'm more of a Superman guy, or maybe because of the three series so far it's been the one that I think has been the most personal. Blackest Night Superman #2 is another example of what I want to see in Blackest Night - the story of the rise of the Black Lanterns goes beyond the physical attacks on the living and strives on the emotional attacks.

James Robinson does a great job of using Earth-2 Superman to his advantage and striking at our Kal-El by playing the Pa Kent card effectively. And when the Psycho Pirate Black Lantern shows up the whole situation goes from bad to worse. I really liked how he used his abilities to manipulate the emotions of the people of Smallville so that he can get the most emotion out of them once they are harvested. And you know that it was hard enough for Superman and Conner to try to stop Earth-2 Superman, but when the Pirate turns Connor against Superman it just adds so much to the sense of hopelessness that's been generated throughout the whole Blackest Night event.

If I have a main criticism of this series it is in the inability to keep the pacing of the Smallville story from being affected by the insertion of the New Krypton portion. I think it would have served both stories better had the New Krypton part been a "back up" to the main Smallville story instead of being inserted into it. In this issue it's only a few pages but it kind of stops the flow of the main story at it reaches the issues climax.

It's certainly not because the New Krypton section isn't great in its own right, that's for sure. The scene where Zor-El taunts Kara is almost painful to read in how delightfully sinister it is. As a parent I could never say those things to a child and I can only imagine how those words stung. Seeing Supergirl be so resolute in her response despite the emotional toll says much of how far she has come as a character. In fact, right now I find more to like about Supergirl than any other character in the Superman family - a far cry from how I felt about her during the days where she seemed resigned to be a cover girl.

Eddy Barrows art is nothing if not consistent. His take on Black Lantern Zor-El is horrifying and I just love the closeup panels of Zor-El both when he's doing his number of Kara and when he's regenerating after she punches the top of his skull off.

All in all the issue keeps the pressure on and the story pushes forward. I'm not sure where this story is going since it doesn't really seem to have a purpose other than to provide a reason why Superman, Superboy and Supergirl are absent from the main Blackest Night series, but it's a fun and frightening story anyways.

Four out of five lanterns.

Green Lantern Live Action Film Update

9/20/2009

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News on the Green Lantern live action film has been sporadic since Ryan Reynolds was announced as getting the lead role back in July. There have been a couple of news stories about the film so I thought maybe it would be a good time to talk about what has been said as well as what it means.

The first story came out several weeks ago regarding budget issues. To boil the issue down - Warner Brothers was unable to secure the deal with Australia earlier on due to revisions being done with the script, locking in the financial rates for the value of the U.S. dollar with their currency. In the meantime the value of the Australian dollar has risen significantly by about sixteen percent, resulting in the need for a major budget increase in order to match the original plan for the film. So what does this mean to the production?

First off, if Warner Brothers cannot reach an agreement with Australia, either they will have to cut budget to bring the expenses in line or they will have to film elsewhere. Rumor has it that scouts have looked into moving the production to Louisiana. That has pushed filming back from starting this fall to next spring. Hopefully Ryan Reynolds contract will not be affected, but rumor has it that he's looking for a movie to be able to be shot while this is being sorted out. Secondly, if the budget is cut, there's also the possiblity that could affect the rest of the casting (more about that later), the ambition of the script, the quality of the special effects, and/or the quality of the film. So while on the surface this may not majorly affect production there are some potential ramifications that could affect the end product.

The other bit of news that came out this week regards some of the rest of the casting in terms of an apparent open casting call. The roles mentioned in the casting call: Carol Ferris, Sinestro, Hector Hammond, and Abin Sur. This list of characters is no surprise to anyone who knows the mythos. What's surprising to me is that this is a casting call for characters which are in the forefront of the film. Given that the studio recruited Ryan Reynolds I expected a similar process for these other major roles. Hopefully this is just a formality and director Martin Campbell has some people in mind. While Abin Sur has the least amount of screen time, we know by the leaked first draft that Hector Hammond is one of the major baddies in the film unless his role has been diminished. And, of course, there are major plots revolving around both Carol and Sinestro in potential sequels, so I hope we get some great actors to fulfill these roles.

The last bit of news is the formation of DC Entertainment. While I think this new company will have a major impact on future films based on DC Comics' characters, I don't see it really affecting the Green Lantern film. Apparently this restructuring has been in the works for a couple of years so I would expect that any of the films either released or in production has been looked at with the knowledge that DC Entertainment was coming. There could be a little tweaking here and there to make sure the GL film falls in with the idea that it fits into a shared DC Universe film continuity, but that's about it.

In any case, the film is moving forward with a summer of 2011 release date. Stay tuned for more news as the weeks progress.

Blackest Night #3 Review

9/17/2009

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Blackest Night #3 hit the stands this week, giving us more death and destruction in the DC universe. More of the story starts to become clear as we are given a whole lot more information on what the Black Lanterns are and what their goal is. Oh, and we get a dose of those mysterious Indigo Lanterns along the way! If you haven't read the solicits and don't know the big bad for Blackest Night, be forewarned that he will be mentioned in this review!

When we last saw Hal and Barry they were about to take a pounding from the Black Lantern JLA. The battle resumes on page 2 of this issue and we get more great taunting by the Black Lanterns as they try to elicit strong emotions from GL and Flash - adding more to the notion that their goal is to get their victims in a highly emotional state before feeding on their hearts. During the battle we see that Ray Palmer did indeed survive his encounter with Hawkman, although not unscathed, and he's had the opportunity to learn quite a bit about the Black Lanterns while hiding in Carter's ring. We also get to see what happens when you try to separate the ring from the Black Lantern as Barry makes an attempt to find a weakness for our heroes to exploit.

What's interesting are the wormholes that Ray sees on the molecular level. Knowing already that Nekron is the force behind Blackest Night, it all makes sense because Nekron has the ability to create those kinds of portals. And the fact that those wormholes are carrying energy goes right back to the goal of the Black Lanterns. In feeding on the emotion filled hearts of their prey, the corresponding energy is channeled back to Nekron to power him up for his return.

This is really great storytelling by Geoff Johns. One of the things I really like about his writing is that he dusts off characters that have been around for a while and finds great ways of turning them sideways until they are something more than we always thought they were. Nekron first appeared back in 1981 in the second issue of "Tales of the Green Lantern Corps" and while he's shown up in a few places since, he's really been another one of those potentially universe threatening forces of evil that's has been kind of relegated to the back burners of DC history. Fortunately Geoff has found a great vehicle for the character and a way to deliver a pulse pounding event that covers the DC Universe in a shroud of horror.

Mera is another one of those characters often used as in a supporting role - but she's front and center here and a great scene with Firestorm at JLA headquarters. The monitors in the background show us some of the events taking place around the globe, and for a second their we almost got to find out who the Unknown Soldier is.

From a story standpoint Mera serves an important role in passing on more important information. I shared a few weeks ago in my review of Blackest Night Titans #1 my theory that the Black Lanterns cannot read the emotions of people at peace. That, since there's no dominant emotion for them to focus on, the Black Lanterns find no use in people who they can't provoke. Both Mera's comments and the information that Ray Palmer shares add credence to that theory.

Just as Ray is about to get a chance to see his ex-wife we get the timely arrival of the Indigo Tribe. Merging their energy with Hal's, the members of the Indigo Tribe are able to dispose of several of the Black Lanterns, offering a temporary reprieve. We are treated to a great page of artwork by Ivan Reis that illustrates Geoff's notion that we are all created from the splintered light of creation and in turn generate energy that fuels the emotional spectrum. Over the eons some beings, like the Guardian, have learned how to harness these energies, and Indigo-1 provides us with the fact that the green energy of willpower is essential to the destruction of the coming darkness.

Ray Palmer also provide more clues as he hypothesizes that the "dead aren't wearing the rings. Maybe the rings are wearing the dead." Indigo-1 shares that only the combined energies working in harmony can defeat their as-yet unknown adversary and that Hal is a key player since he has connections to all the most powerful members of the rest of the energies. Hal gets the line of the issue. ("Death is overrated", indeed!)

Now I've read some criticisms of the next scene between Hal and Barry and I will agree somewhat that it does slow the pacing down a bit. But I think it's important that we get to see this moment between these two icons and I think this is just one of those moments where you're in the eye of the hurricane and all it peaceful for a moment before all Hell is about to break loose.

I really think that the strongest relationships between characters occurs between those that are not only similar but also reflections of each other at the same time. Batman and the Joker is a great example of a relationship between two characters that are two sides of the same coin yet still diametrically opposed to one another. Hal and Barry have a similar dynamic as Geoff Johns points out here and it's a great moment that we get to witness and it's probably the first time in years where they've both had the chance to have a heart to heart talk for a minute on just who they are. Great stuff.

The issue winds down, well okay it doesn't wind down so much as it comes to an end, with Jason and Gehenna's deadly encounter with Black Lantern Firestorm. I'm not a Firestorm fan so the impact of these moments don't resonate with me, but it is nonetheless poignant and disturbing at the same time.

Of course the issue ends with the revealing of the latest recruits in the Black Lantern army - chief among them Max Lord, Killer Frost, Copperhead, Alexander Luthor, and Dr. Light. There are a couple more creepy pages from the Book of the Black to round out the issue and we are teased that by the time we reach the next issue the Black Lantern power level will reach 100 percent. And for people wanting to know the lineup of James Robinson's JLA run there's an ad showing the whole group.

Ivan Reis shines and if not for the fact that Doug Mahnke's doing a bang up job on the main Green Lantern title I'd be lamenting his impending departure from the GL books. All around a great issue well balanced between action and considerable time spent advancing the overall plot. Five Lanterns.