Like many of you, I read some of the Green Lantern comics while growing up. Although I wasn’t a huge fan, I did know enough of the character and also watched some cartoons that feature him. This superhero is the latest in a long line of superheroes who have made their way to the big screen with the 2011 release of the live action movie. Green Lantern was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan who becomes the Green Lantern representative for humanity. Also starring as Blake Lively as the love interest Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Tim Robbins & Angela Bassett. Kilowog, an alien Green Lantern, is voiced by Michael Clark Duncan, while Tomar Re is by Geoffrey Rush.
I was expecting a lot out of this movie but it ends up just being a mess of stuff that floats around. Throughly disappointing and I even fell asleep at one point of the film that I was watching recently one afternoon and I switched it off to watched it at a later time. What can I say – origin movies of superheroes have to walk that fine line of enough action and explanation of how the character gets his powers (if he is a normal human being) and also introduce a villain, a potential disaster and also get the love interest angle in there. Unless it is done well the movie can collapse all around you in a cacophony of confusion. And that’s what has happened here!
Perhaps the fact that there are too many characters to consider, what with the plethora of alien Green Lanterns, a humungous villain, a human villain plus the supporting characters is what causes it and that might be the main weakness of this film. It also seems like the director, producers and most of the actors didn’t have their heart in this movie. The villain created is also a weak story, the way the lead Green Lantern alien treats Hal and then comes around fails to convince. Also I’d have to say that the concept is more science fiction than any of the usual comic book hero stories that you get to see. Did I find anything good in this film?
Yes there’s a bit of humour, the special effects are awesome and it’s pretty hard to not get untouched by Reynold’s enthusiasm which however does not make up for the performance. I got introduced to Blake Lively having never seen anything of hers before. I can only hope that a sequel, which despite the money only making $16 million more than it’s $200 million budget is unlikely, will sot out this mess. I think the hero deserves better. 6 outta 10 for me.