Note: the following review contains mild spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet. Reader discretion advised.
Green Lantern has been anticipated to be one of the best CBMs of the year. Even after the negative reception to the first trailer, the tide turned considerably after the Wonder-Con footage went online, as well as the other trailers/TV spots/clips. But just as it seemed like it’d be a success, we get early reviews tearing the film apart, criticizing it for its thin script and being ‘overproduced’. But is it really THAT bad? I don’t think so.
Green Lantern centers on test pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) - cocky, arrogant, and sort of selfish - being chosen by the ring of Green Lantern Abin Sur - mortally wounded by the villainous Parallax - for his lack of fear. He’s then sent to Oa to be trained by Kilowog (Michael Clarke Duncan), Tomar-Re (Geoffrey Rush), and Sinestro (Mark Strong), and just in time too - the earth was being attacked by Parallax, and Jordan needs to defeat the villain to save his civilization.
It seems like this was a major concern going into the film from the start, but the CGI is actually fantastic. Oa looks just as good as Asgard did in last month’s Thor, and it’s a shame that too little of the planet was displayed. The costumes look awesome as well, although I don’t see the point in making the suits entirely out of CGI (unless it’s for a completely CGI character such as Kilowog or Tomar-Re). Parallax was actually kind of scary, and Martin Campbell did a great job bringing the character to life (except for the character being a complete cloud) in a menacing way. The main faults with the CGI, in my opinion, is Hal’s mask (it seems more like clay than anything else) and Hector Hammond’s head (more on my bashing the character later). But overall, the CGI’s excellent (even if some scenes relied way too much on it), but I’m hoping that they’d go with a REAL costume for the sequel (if it’s made, of course) so they could save some money.
For the most part, the cast is pretty solid. While many didn’t like the idea of Ryan Reynolds playing a serious character like Hal Jordan, he actually plays the role close to perfection (he’s even better here than he was as Deadpool in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, IMO). Blake Lively is decent as love interest Carol Ferris, but she seems a bit too whiney/sadistic in the role - similar to Kirsten Dunst as MJ Watson in the Spider-Man films. Mark Strong is absolutely amazing as Sinestro, and probably delivers the best performance overall. Michael Clarke Duncan and Geoffrey Rush are both excellent in their voice roles as Kilowog and Tomar-Re, respectively, while Angela Bassett does a good job as Amanda Waller.
Perhaps the biggest issue with the film - other than some plot holes - is the portrayal of the villain Hector Hammond (portrayed by Peter Sarsgaard). While the character was developed enough, the consistent screams and overall BAD performance of Sarsgaard just kill the overall potential that the villain could have had in the film. Another major flaw is the lack of development for Sinestro. It seemed like his falling to the dark side was just too quick (heck, he was even FRIENDLY with Hal right before placing the Yellow Ring on, which was created before the final sequence between Hal and Parallax). I would’ve liked to see Sinestro developed some more (giving a real reason as to why he became evil, etc).
Some more plot holes also seem to ruin the film’s script. For example - when Hal removes his ring, his suit disappears (all the time). However, when Abin Sur removed HIS ring right before death, the suit doesn’t disappear until he dies a few seconds later. Later, during the after credits, when Sinestro removes his ring before placing on the yellow one, the suit doesn’t disappear either (until it’s replaced by the yellow suit). It’s little things like this that take away from the movie. Finally, at just around an hour and 45 minutes, Green Lantern feels too short and rushed as a whole, and it could’ve been at least 20 minutes or so longer.
By the time the smoke clears, however, Green Lantern stands out as a mostly solid entry into the comic book movie genre, showcasing many action-packed scenes, dazzling special effects, and a mostly solid cast. While not near as good as films such as The Dark Knight, Spider-Man, or Thor, it’s still miles ahead of films such as Catwoman, Batman & Robin, and other mediocre DC films. Hopefully the yet-to-be-greenlit sequel will improve on the flaws of this film, and if they can get another writing team to pen the script, it just might be for the better. And I hope the critical panning of this flick doesn’t keep other DC characters such as The Flash and Wonder Woman from finally hitting the big screen!
I rate Green Lantern 4 out of 5 stars.