Summary
Overview
The How Did This Get Made podcast crew—Paul Scheer, Jason Manzoukas, June Diane Raphael, and guest Paul Rust—dissect the 2011 superhero film Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds. They mercilessly critique the confusing plot, terrible CGI, weak character development, awkward dialogue, and nonsensical action sequences in this $200 million box office failure that somehow still got greenlit for a sequel.
The Confusing Opening and Basic Plot Problems
The hosts immediately identify the film's fatal flaw: a 10-minute opening monologue that dumps incomprehensible information about sectors, planets, and guardians without any visual engagement. Even Jason, familiar with the comics, was confused from the start. They describe how pilot Hal Jordan gets a ring from a dying alien and becomes a space cop, but the execution makes no sense with its dense exposition and lack of clarity about what's actually happening.
- The opening monologue was comically long—nearly 10 minutes of dense, confusing information about sectors and guards
- The movie takes place in Sector 2318, which contains Earth among thousands of planets
- There was nothing visually engaging during the exposition—like a bad planetarium show
" It was like if somebody who was a fan of the comic books sat you down with their onion breath and talked to you for 10 minutes about what they liked about the comic. "
" It started so instantaneously terrible. "
The Ridiculous Villain: A Cloud with Teeth
The crew tears apart Parallax, the main antagonist described as a cloud with teeth that looks like a rejected villain from The Mummy ride. They discuss the absurdity of giving teeth to something that doesn't chew, and the confusing logic of a fear-eating entity that is itself fear. The visual effects are described as some of the worst green screen garbage they've seen.
- Parallax is a cloud with teeth that does no chewing—it just sucks out souls
- The villain sucks out people's ghost skeletons, as if skeletons have souls too
- Parallax eats people's fear but also IS fear, creating confusing circular logic
" It is a cloud with teeth that does no chewing. "
" I fucking hated this movie. "
📚 8 more sections below
Sign up to unlock the complete summary with all insights, key points, and quotes
Get this summary + all future How Did This Get Made? episodes in your inbox
100% Free • Unsubscribe Anytime
Sign up now and we'll send you the complete summary of this episode, plus get notified when new How Did This Get Made? episodes are released—delivered straight to your inbox within minutes.