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Movie Review: Green Lantern

Dane Jackson

Of all the DC characters featured in movies, I’m very surprised that Jonah Hex got a movie adaptation before Green Lantern did especially given Green Lantern’s rich history. Director Martin Campbell (Goldeneye and Casino Royale) has finally corrected that problem and I’m happy to report his Green Lantern is way better than Jonah Hex (yes, I realize that isn’t saying much). Seriously though, Green Lantern is a capable and enjoyable enough origin story that perfectly sets up what should be a much better sequel.

First things first, Campbell’s visuals for this movie are absolutely stunning. His take on outer space and the planet Oa are breathtaking. In fact, the best scenes in the movie take place off of Earth, which is a shame because most of the movie takes place on Earth.

Green Lantern tells the story of test pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) who is chosen to replace dying alien Abin Sur as the Green Lantern (essentially a space cop for the non-fanboy) charged to protect sector 2814 (which just happens to include Earth). Hal is the first human to be chosen as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, which immediately makes him an outcast with the rest of the Corps. Initially trained by Corps members Tomar-Re (voiced by Geoffrey Rush), Kilowog (voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan), and Sinestro (Mark Strong), Hal eventually learns how to use the power of his ring (which is able to use the Corps members’ willpower to manifest just about anything in order to protect and defend themselves and others).

While Hal is undergoing Lantern training, an evil being that feeds off of fear has escaped and heads straight towards Sector 2814 and Hal Jordan because Abin Sur, the previous owner of Hal’s ring, is the reason it was imprisoned for so long. In fact, it was during a battle in the beginning of the film where we see Abin Sur mortally wounded by this villain, which is why he crash landed on Earth in the first place. This being is called Parallax and, like the visuals for the alien Corp members and all the other space scenes, looks amazing when on screen.

Ryan Reynolds wouldn’t have been my first choice as Hal Jordan (in fact, I think he would have been perfect as The Flash), but he does a capable job as the Green Lantern. Blake Lively stars as rival and love interest Carol Ferris and delivers a mostly forgettable performance. In fact, most of the scenes between the two felt pretty reminiscent of Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis in Top Gun. The true star of the supporting cast was Peter Sarsgaard who stars as Hector Hammond, a reclusive doctor who gets the chance to perform the autopsy of Abin Sur’s body and becomes Hal’s unlikely rival because of their mutual interest in Lively’s character. In fact, aside from Reynolds, Sarsgaard appears to be the only one on screen having any fun. It’s just a shame he wasn’t utilized more, which brings me to the biggest problem I had with this movie – editing and pacing.

Green Lantern clocks in at just over an hour and a half, which is short by comic book movie standards, especially origin stories. The pacing felt extremely rushed, almost as if they wanted to get through this flick because they knew Green Lantern 2 would be ten times better. Because of this, we don’t see Reynolds as the titular character nearly enough, and when he is in costume, he never takes full advantage of the power ring. Also, when you hire the voice talents of Academy Award nominees and Academy Award Winners (Duncan and Rush), you should give their characters more screen time. Not so, which definitely makes me think they wanted to get those two signed on early with the expectation of expanded roles in the sequel. Finally, towards the end, some of the editing choices felt a bit choppy and disjointed (almost reminiscent of the ending for the theatrical release of Daredevil), which made me wonder what fell on the cutting room floor.

Aside from my gripes, Green Lantern is an enjoyable summer popcorn flick. It delivers excitement, great CGI work, and for the ladies being dragged to the movie with their significant others, Ryan Reynolds with his shirt off. Two quick words of warning though – Don’t waste your money on a 3-D showing as nothing was really gained in viewing the movie in 3-D and make sure you stay through the credits.

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Dane Jackson

Dane Jackson has been writing about movies since high school when he had a monthly column in the school paper about cult movies. His cinematic tastes have matured (slightly) since then.
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