(Long Island, N.Y.) Man, going into a movie with lowered expectations can work wonders for your overall enjoyment level of said movie. However, in Green Lantern’s case, all the negative press it’s been getting seems a bit unwarranted. This DC comic book-based flick, starring Ryan Reynolds as a guy who gets a ring from a dying alien and, in turn, becomes an intergalactic superhero, was pretty much ravaged by critics but is getting solid word-of-mouth on the street. But is it worthy of such critical disdain, or does Green Lantern actually deserve your hard-earned guap? Read on!
Ryan Reynolds plays Hal Jordan, formerly of the United States Air Force and now a test pilot. Jordan spends his days flying experimental planes and his nights bagging hot babes, and while all seems well in his world (even though he gets in trouble for crashing a multi-million dollar fighter jet just to prove a point), in space, we discover that an evil alien entity known as Parallax is destroying worlds through the power of fear. The Green Lantern Corps, intergalactic police force comprised of creatures from various planets all wielding power rings fueled by willpower, enabling their wielders to create just about any weapon or object they can imagine, attempts to stop and imprison the horrific Parallax. But while one of their members, Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison), temporarily succeeds, the living embodiment of fear manages to escape (really, it wasn’t that hard…if he was so dangerous, why not have a little more security? Or any, for that matter?) and mortally wounds Abin, who crash lands on Earth.
Needing a successor, Abin bids the ring to choose from the population of Earth the most worthy. Thankfully, the ring doesn’t choose Justin Bieber, but instead – you guessed it – Hal Jordan, who is eventually transported to Oa, the home planet of the Green Lantern Corps, to be trained in their ways. There, he encounters resistance in the form of Thaal Sinestro (Mark Strong), a veteran Green Lantern who becomes Jordan’s mentor despite not believing a lowly human is capable of filling the big shoes of Abin Sur.
But even when schooled in the ways of the Green Lantern Corps and their powers, is Jordan able to conquer his fear and somehow stop the onslaught of Parallax, as he decides to make Earth next on his menu?
So, I’m going to have to agree with the public on this one…I know the reviews have been beating up on Green Lantern, but I was entertained; it’s a very solid movie (but nothing compared to the masterful X-Men: First Class, of course). Ryan Reynolds was good, putting in an obvious strong effort to do as much with the role as he possibly could, and while I’ve seen movies where he was the most annoying thing on the planet, here in Green Lantern he’s charismatic and likable. I would also say that he handles the action scenes like a champ, but considering the fact that all of those scenes are, like, 99.62% all CG, really, Stephen Hawking could have handled the role just as well in that respect. But still, when it comes down to it, Reynolds is easily the best thing about this movie…not Robert Downey Jr./Iron Man good, but he’s up there.
And the different ways they used Green Lantern’s power ring for stuff was fun and unique for a superhero flick- it kind of reminded me of Jim Carry’s The Mask in a way. The pacing of the film could have been better, but overall this isn’t nearly as bad as people are saying. Its fun, it’s funny, fairly original (in content if not presentation…it follows the Superhero movie origin template about as closely as you can get), and the action scenes are pretty cool.
The other “strong” point in this movie is Mark Strong (haha, I’m so witty) as Sinestro, who has an excellent look, presence, and delivery. It’s actually a shame that he’s under-utilized as he is here. If a sequel happens, as the mid-credits stinger strongly suggests, he will obviously play a much bigger part in it.
Green Lantern also has a good supporting cast made up of a lot of veterans you might not have seen in a movie in a while, such as Tim Robbins and Angela Bassett. Oh, and Blake Lively plays Carol Ferris, Jordan’s love interest, who’s exactly the same as every other female love interest in every other Superhero movie: she looks hot. Um…that’s it. That’s all they ever are. Hot. Not that I don’t enjoy looking at a hot woman going “duh” for 90 minutes or so, but for once I’d like to see this kind of role expanded and actually given some depth and intelligence, you know? Or, barring that, let’s start making some FEMALE superhero flicks…there’s plenty to choose from, but the point I’m trying to make is to give women some meatier parts to play in movies of this type.
One MAJOR problem with Green Lantern, however…Peter Sarsgaard as Dr. Hector Hammond, this nerdy scientist bad guy. The audience was cracking up every single time he walked onto the screen because he just LOOKED AND ACTED SO DAMN STUPID. You see, he gets infected by the evil “yellow energy” of Parallax (in this movie, green = good, yellow = bad) and as a result his brain grows to mammoth size and he just gets all sweaty-looking and starts acting super-goofy. There’s this scene where he rolls out in a wheelchair with this crazy super-bloated head and jowl, you’d have thought the movie was a comedy based on the audience’s reaction. It’s like Green Lantern was fighting Eric Stoltz from Mask. I have no idea how Hammond made it past storyboards, but this guy’s the worst movie bad guy in years, if not EVER.
So, if you’ve seen Thor, X-Men: First Class (actually, you should see that one twice), and just can’t wait for Captain America: The First Avenger next month and need yet another Superhero fix RIGHT NOW, Green Lantern should tide you over just fine. I’d recommend ignoring the critics on this one (except me, of course!) and checking it out.
