Green Lantern (2011)

starring Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively

directed by Martin Campbell

screenplay by Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, and Michael Goldenberg, based on a character byJohn Broome

The story of the Green Lantern is an excellent one, that of Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), a reckless test pilot who is endowed with power ring by a dying alien, and is inducted into a intergalactic team of super-police. Green Lantern is an extravagant, larger-than-life character, with the ability to create anything out of pure energy with the use of his ring, and had the potential for a fantastic science fiction epic. Unfortunately Green Lantern is weakly executed, laden with non-ignorable flaws, and falls short into an abyss of throwaway of superhero films. An age 8 me would have loved this movie: stylistic and exciting, but in reality Green Latern is flat and sloppily made (5 year-old me loved Batman and Robin so let’s just leave it at that). The plot is uninterestingly linear, and unmotivated, driven along only by necessity. The dialogue was corny and predictable. Reynolds is a boring hero, failing to transcend his rom-com roots, and his co-stars are equally flat, especially Blake Lively who is nothing more than eye-candy. Geoffery Rush, Mark Strong, and Michael Clarke Duncan were fantastic as his fellow Corps members Tomar Re, Sinestro, and Kilowog respectively.At one point Hal “can’t handle the pressure” and gives up the responsibility, and I frankly I didn’t care. Even the action sequences can’t redeem the thin plot, since none of them were terrifically exciting. The special-effects were certainly engaging, but still kind of goofy and cartoonish. The action sequences were limited, which I partially attribute to poorly chosen villains. Perhaps this movie would’ve been given a much better review 10 years ago, but since then the superhero genre has risen to higher standard, and sadly this semi-campy superhero flick is more “blackest night” than “brightest day.”

Final Score: 2.0 out of 5

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