Constructing Green Lantern: From Page To Screen by Ozzy Inguanzo (book review).
Think what you may about the 2011 film ‘Green Lantern’, one has to admire the designs that went into their making. After all, it’s a tough order to create a three-dimensional galaxy spawned police force in a year or so from a two-dimensional comicbook that was created over half a century. From my perspective, I think it was a mistake to jump from Hal Jordan receiving the power ring to immediately going to OA and meeting some of the other 3600 members of the Green Lantern Corps. It doesn’t leave anywhere to go for a second film which, at this time, doesn’t appear that likely. As such, Ozzy Inguanzo’s book, ‘Constructing Green Lantern: From Page To Screen’, is likely to be the only definitive book on the film.
The emphasis with this book is more to do with the design than telling you about the story or interviewing the cast. Saying that, there is a lot of storyboards intermingled with stacks of design and photos from the film. Interestingly, although we seen many of the Corps, only twenty-five are brought up to full graphics and this book shows and identifies all of them, as well as the nine Guardians of OA. Seeing how the likes of Sinestro and Hector Hammond’s head designs were created shows that this was one area where CGI wasn’t employed on the actors’ heads.
Although I can understand that creating the Green Lantern costumes using CGI allowed them to look, shall we say, more exotic and power ring created, to my mind they still ended up looking too plasticky. There is less emphasis on them, although we do see the spot suits the actors who had them wore. There was also no explanation why the comicbook version white gloves was changed neither.
Something I didn’t know was that matt painter Michele Moen also worked on the 1982 film ‘Blade Runner’, amongst others. I love these long-lived connections which no doubt make for good SF pub quizzes.
Things I learnt and thought about include:-
I’d never given much thought as to where Coast City actually was before but Los Angeles would actually be a close fit, having seen ‘The Aviator’ film recently.
Something that did occur to me about the Oaian power battery is that if it charges all the Green Lantern power rings at once then it must surely need 24 hours itself to recuperate its own energy before doing another mass charge.
I did ponder on another reason for the mask other than disguise. Considering that the Green Lanterns travel in space a lot, having some protection against the various bright lights, some of which must undoubtedly throb would make a lot more sense. It also makes a convenient means to prevent air pollution and insects out of the eyes when flying through an atmosphere. The fact that it can also act as a disguise would then be a secondary thing. After all, considering that as a disguise, it’s not particularly effective would have been a nice counter.
No one seems to have recognised that the symbol for the Department Of Extranormal Operations is based off the triangle eye that is used by the Illuminatii.
It’s a shame that there might not be a second film as it would have been interesting to see how Sinestro’s successor, Katma Tui, would have looked.
If you like books about how films were made, then this book should surely be in your collection.
GF Willmetts
(pub: Universe Publishing/Rizzoli International Publications Inc. 208 page illustrated hardback. Price: just over £ 8.00 (UK) is you know where to look. ISBN: 978-0-78932-452-8)
check out website: www.rizzoliusa.com
