GREEN LANTERN (2011)

Two years ago if you asked me the difference between the Green Hornet and the Green Lantern, I would have been perplexed. Now that 2011 is well into its blockbuster season, I can definitely tell you - one makes for a better movie. While it ended up being just okay, The Green Hornet fell disappointingly short - at least compared to what I thought it could be. Green Lantern on the other hand, does a good job of coming a whole lot closer to getting it right.

Ryan Reynolds plays Hal Jordan/Green Lantern and Blake Lively (Accepted) plays his love interest. Following a creed introduced by his father a number when he was a child, Hal is fixated on the idea that in order to survive and succeed in the world you need to be fearless. As it turns out, in order to be chosen by the Green Lantern Corps. one must be fearless. Enter a purple alien and one hell of an adventure for Hal.

With Green Lantern, all the ‘right’ elements are introduced to the viewer. You have the character arc of a likable enough guy, the pretty girl, excellent special effects, an imposing villain and an established fan base. Where I believe Green Lantern goes wrong is how those elements are put together and executed; case in point – the story arc. At just under two hours I was left feeling like there was still something missing. The story seemed to move too quickly; there was a point in the film where Hal confronts the leaders of the Green Lantern Corps. Despite being about a jillion years older than the human species alone – the leaders listen to Hal’s ideas and seem to learn something from them. Apparently evolution of the mind stops after 10, 000 years or so.

The other thing I felt disappointed with was the lack of ad-lib humour (or humour in general) from Reynolds. Now, I don’t know if this was the doing of the producers making sure that the script was left as close to the original as possible, or if Reynolds was just being lame. But part of what I discussed felt missing was also due to the emptiness of Reynolds’ charisma. By the end of the movie you’re left feeling that anybody with abs of steel could have played this role as if un-owned by Reynolds. Looks like Captain America may be the only hope left this summer as a possible candidate for beating out the awesomeness of X-Men: First Class.

Despite all this though, as aforementioned, I still enjoyed Green Lantern and its efforts enough to give it an open door as an entertaining piece of cinema and a great popcorn movie. It’s unlikely you’ll leave the theatre hating this movie or feeling cheated out of your hard-earned dollar. It’s just as likely though that you won’t remember this as being the summer of Green Lantern.

*Stills courtesy of Warner Bros. Studios