We fans are a strange bunch. We like go around whining to anyone who will listen about how movie studios treat us and our favorite comic book heroes with disrespect, how Hollywood is ruining comic books, etc. But the fact of the matter is that we are nothing more than spoiled children. We scourge the internet looking for any news we can about upcoming comic book movies, and once we find something we don't agree with, we yell and scream and smash stuff until mommy and daddy (the studios) give us something to shut us up, and even then, that will only keep us happy for so long before we throw another tantrum.
Green Lantern is a great example of this behavior. Fans complained about the casting of Ryan Reynolds, the overuse of CGI, Blake Lively, etc. Warner Brothers did their best to appease us, spending millions to improve the CGI, casting Mark Strong as Sinestro, and getting Geoff Johns to consult. Despite Warner Brothers' best efforts, extremely negative reviews starting hitting earlier this week, and of course fans everywhere starting crying out "I told you so".
As the week went on, reviews went from negative to mixed to positive, so I really had no idea what to expect going into this movie. If you've read some of my previous articles, you know that I was a big supporter of this movie. I'm a big fan of director Martin Campbell (the man saved the Bond franchise, twice) and Green Lantern is my second favorite DC hero, so I really wanted this movie to be good.
Well, I'll say it, Green Lantern isn't nearly as bad as fans make it out to be, but it isn't good either. As a movie, Green Lantern simply... is. It's a fun way to spend two hours and be entertained, but it won't stick with you for long. I think that's part of the reason why fans have reacted so negatively to it, and this brings me back to us being spoiled. After The Dark Knight, fans seem to think that every comic book movie needs to be dark, serious, and Oscar caliber, and that's just plain impossible. The fact is that comic books were started as children's entertainment, and nowadays they serve as entertainment for kids people who refuse to grow up. A lot of reviewers knocked Green Lantern for being cheesy, but this is a movie that was almost required to be cheesy. The premise itself is pretty over the top, and director Martin Campbell knows this, so he never makes the tone too serious. So Green Lantern has more in common with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies than with Christopher Nolan's Batman movie, but it works to it's advantage and for the most part makes it a fun movie.
But Green Lantern is still a flawed movie, and the biggest flaw is not with the tone but with the script. The script has far too much going on, but somehow still lacks any direction. What makes an origin story work is seeing what makes the hero tick, what motivates them, and the script really gives Hal Jordon nothing to motivate him. We get roughly ten speeches about Hal is a slacker and some really clunky daddy issues subplots, but we never get a feeling of Hal wanting something. In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne wants to save Gotham from crime, in Iron Man Tony Stark wants to redeem himself after a lifetime of arms dealing, but there's nothing driving Hal Jordon. This makes for a lot of moments where Hal is just kind of sitting around moping. The movie stops in it's tracks too many times to force the love story between Hal and Carol Ferris down our throats, and we still never really buy it.
The scenes on Oa are well done and were easily my favorite part of the movie. I really liked Hal's training scenes but sadly those were cut short to take us back to Earth. As I said before, this movie tries to fit so much in and nothing is really given the time it needs. On Oa, fan favorites Tomar Re and Kilowog really only get about one scene, but the whole Green Lantern Corp itself really doesn't do much. Sinestro gets the most screen time out of the Corp but even then he really doesn't get much to do other than have a pointless subplot that only serves to set up for an eventual heel turn in a sequel.
Parallax seems to be the main villain of the piece, but he really doesn't get much to do other than chill in space and monologue, and we never really see him as scary or as a threat. On Earth, the villain is Hector Hammond, who Peter Sarsgaard plays with an appropriate amount of creepiness. But much like Parallax, Hammond never really comes off as a threat, especially against a hero as powerful as Green Lantern.
As for the performances, Ryan Reynolds gives a great performance with the little he's given as Hal Jordan. He plays the cocky but vulnerable tough guy well, but his character is pretty by the numbers. Mark Strong as Sinestro has to be the best casting for a CBM I've seen in a while, and I hope this movie is successful enough for a sequel so we can see him flex his skills as a villain. As Carol Ferris, Blake Lively is just there, not good, but not bad. Tim Robbins is terribly miscast as Senator Hammond because he's too close in age to Peter Sarsgaard.
However flawed, I still enjoyed myself at Green Lantern. In film school, one of my professors would often say that, in regards to movies, that you can only have so much Filet Mignon before you just want a cheeseburger, and that's what Green Lantern is. It's an easily digestible movie but it wont' stick with you for long, but once again, because it's not a game changer, fans automatically declare it a failure. I hope this movie does well enough to warrant a sequel because there's tons of potential here and with a more focused script, we could get something really special. So if you're looking for a good way to spend the weekend, see Green Lantern, but don't expect to have your mind blown or anything.
Overall, I give it a 6/10.
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