Movie Review: Green Lantern
Thu, June 16, 2011 
This film marks the first time the character's ever graced the big screen before, brought to life here by Ryan Reynolds. The film as I'm sure you're aware has been plagued with delays, shitty rumours, and a down right awful marketing campaign from the start. Luckily for Warner Bros and DC they seem to have actually delivered the end result they were aiming for. I can't say I was ever really a fan of the character before, aside from the direct to video animated releases, and I've never actually read a Green Lantern comic; so my opinion on the film is as unbiased and objectively viewed as it gets.
Ryan Reynolds casting as Hal Jordan the arrogant and cocky Air Force test pilot was as spot on as Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark. Similar to Reynolds previous roles he brings his sarcastic wit and charm, only this time he's also given a few brief moments to showcase his acting ability, he doesn't disappoint. Blake Lively as Carol Farris, Hal's love interest, felt like the most indispensable role of the film. They could have done with out the character or Lively and not had to change any serious element of the plot. Peter Sarsgaard's portrayal of Dr. Hector Hammond the main villain was both menacing and sadistic. Even Mark Strong who's screen time didn't seem nearly long enough was fantastic as the leader of the Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro.
The film starts off right away by assuming the audience isn't at all aware of the Green Lantern mythology and in turn gives a breif narrated back story to get the ball rolling. For those unfamiliar like I for the most part was as well; The Green Lanterns rings were created by an ancient mortal alien race known as the guardians. The rings were sent out to seek a Lantern in each corner of the universe to protect their individual sector or galaxy. They were forged by the power of will, and it's the will power of each lantern that grants them their abilities. Alternatively The guardians also attempted to harness the power of fear, there efforts turned unsuccesful when they realized the power could only be used for evil doing, thus giving us our main antagonist.
The opening sequence has the space ship of Abin Sur, a purple humanoid alien Lantern', being attacked. The trailer really did no justice to this action sequence at all. Sur really is one bad motherfucker, I'm sure he even has that stitched onto his wallet. We also get our first look at the power possessed by the rings as Sur fights off the invading force, only to be cornered into an escape pod. After crash landing on earth he allows the ring to seek out and find his predecessor, Hal Jordan, the first and at this point only human Lantern. Unlike the promotional images released early on the suit actually looks amazing on screen.
Without giving too much of the film away or spoiling any of the surprises, Green Lantern serves very much as a launching pad for the character; this is definitely an origin story, but much like Batman Begins it works quite well. The special effects and cinematography were well beyond what I'd expected going in, although aside from a few key scenes the 3D was used entirely as a gimmick. In the action sequences it was kinda fun to watch, getting the extra depth and scope of 3D, but for the dialogue scenes and everything in between it was distracting as hell. Regardless of what you may have also heard or even assumed the plot and the tone aren't at all as campy or cheesy as you may of thought. Martin Campbell did a great job at taking the source material a lot more serious than I think anyone expected.
I would also suggest staying until after the intial credits end for a special surprise.
Reader Comments (4)
Good review Mitch. I'm glad to see someone with an unbiased opinion enjoyed this movie. I am really scratching my head over all the bad reviews. Before seeing the film I really began to worry a bit that all my anticipation leading up to the movie was going to end in a major let down. I couldn't have been more wrong. I don't know what people were expecting but it's exactly what I imagined it to be. Fun, fast, and cool. The buzz from people coming out was positive with good comments on the movie so I'm hoping general audiences ignore these clinched-ass critics and give the film a shot with their own opinion.
I'm thinking good reviews for comic book movies are going to generally decline as the summer wears on due to the sheer volume of these types of movies playing this year. Captain America may be the exception but audiences and critics may suffer from a little fatigue by August.
I think you're right Jen. They're overloading us with comicbook movies in hollywood. Not all of them are going to be good either but the critics will grow tired of them either way.
Good review Mitch ;)
I can't wait to see the film myself. I do hope the fans and general audience enjoy it. I don't care about the film critics who been bashing the film. Hopefully it does well for iys overall boxoffice haul. So it helps other dc characters make it to big screen.