Green Lantern Review
If I were to rate superhero films on a spectrum that had the 1978 classic Superman: The Movie on one end, and the messy diaper that was 1997's Batman & Robin on the other, then the Green Lantern would fall somewhere smack dab in the middle.The movie is a fantastic introduction to the character. If you have never heard of the Green Lantern, or Hal Jordan you don't have to worry about being left out of the loop. You will get to experience and learn all about who Hal is. You will get to learn all the demons of his past. You will learn the names of who his supporting characters are, including the traits and personalities of the main members of the Green Lantern Corps. For those of us in the know, this is a bit painful, but those who are new to the world of Oa this will be a fascinating and wonderful peek into the vastness of the Green Lantern Corps. The less you know about the Green Lantern, and the story of Hal Jordan, the better off you are. However, because the movie spends so much time on this the movie drags in sections.
I should also mention that I feel the movie could have used a bit more humor. The movie wants to be taken seriously, it wants to exist as a thoughtful action film, but thats not what we want from our spandex clad gods of summer. We want a witty remark, or a joke, or something that lightens the mood. The movie forces itself away from the typical light hearted super hero movie so desperately that it at times becomes too heavy, and bogged down by its own weight.
Visually speaking this movie is beautiful. The toughest part of creating the world of the Green Lantern is making us believe in the interstellar universe and in Oa, the home planet of the Green Lantern Corps. The film does an exceptional job with this, and you believe in the reality that they have created. Many people have complained about the suit being a completely fabricated piece of CGI. I disagree. Personally I think that this was the only way to go when it comes to the Green Lantern. He is a hero who is only limited by his imagination, so why not allow that to flow organically from within the suit.
On the whole I was satisfied with the acting in the movie. I was especially impressed with the performance of Ryan Reynolds. Initially I thought he was too funny to play the part and too silly for the intergalactic space cop role of Hal Jordan. I was wrong. Reynolds takes this part seriously, he knows this character, and you can tell he belongs in the part. Also perfectly cast was Mark Strong (most commonly known as Lord Blackwood in 2009's Sherlock Holmes). Besides being well cast based solely on his resume, Mark Strong does a brilliant job in his portrayal of the great general of Oa. The trickiest part for him is that he has to play Sinestro just right, with enough charm for us to like him and yet enough menace for us to believe that he can easily follow the path he is headed on.
The major theme in the movie is that the strength of will can overcome the power of fear. Hal Jordan is just a man, who has fears just like all men. So the choice of villain for the origin story was very appropriate. An enemy who embodies, and feeds off of the fear in others, is a worthy first opponent for a man who must conquer his own fear. Where Hal Jordan's strength lies is in his ability to face his fears, to present his courage to any villain that would use fear to manipulate those around them. I am sad to say that I am looking forward to the sequel not because of the greatness of this one, but because we can skip the origin story and get right to the betrayal of Sinestro.
Overall it is a good movie, not the great movie I am sure everyone was hoping it would be, but good. I truly hope that it is does well enough financially to kick off the second wave of DC heroes. I am excited to see feature films of the Flash, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. Weather or not we need a combined DC Universe team of heroes I don't know but it would be nice to see the second tier DC hero get a shot at being made into movies.
There is clearly enough information in the review to give the reader sufficient information to think about this movie. Let me, however, suggest an additional criterion. Something that has nagged me after seeing it is in the emotional arc of the Green Lantern character. Even though I thought the movie was pretty good, to me, the weakest points is in the unexplained character arc of the Hal Jordan character. The arc is defined by actions as that of someone who cannot commit, or focus on one hand, to that of not only all humankind's most valiant individuals who in the end surpasses all expectations, even of those mythical superheros who he fails to even identify with due to his ascent into an even higher legendary status. The shift is clearly there, but the movie disappoints by not showing more of the intermediate growth that had to take place. It is as if at one moment he is an irresponsible cocky test pilot, then at nearly the next moment he has cemented his character with such fortitude that surpasses even the immortals.
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