Green Lantern was what I always considered to be another second
tier superhero in the DC stable of Superheroes. He never had a Mego action figure
for me to play with as a kid, nor did he have his own cartoon back then, so Green
Lantern was pretty low on my personal radar. But seeing how good the film
adaptations of Iron Man and Thor--two second tier heroes of the Marvel universe--had
turned out, I had high hopes for Green Lantern. The reason my hopes were high for GL was because its director was Martin Campbell, who jumpstarted Peirce Brosnan’s career as James Bond in Goldeneye, and then went on to revitalize the Bond series itself with the superb, turbo-charged Casino Royale.
But then I finally saw Green Lantern…and well…I guess Marty struck out with this one. Based on the Silver Age version of the comic, Green Lantern stars the "oh-so-adorable" Ryan Reynolds, who’s one of these bland, pretty boy actors whom I can never figure out how he keeps getting work, much less become a major star. But he’s actually well-cast here as Hal Jordan, the jut-jawed test pilot who becomes chosen by a dying alien to take over his spot within the Green Lantern Corps. The GL Corps is a super-duper intergalactic police force who right wrongs with their seemingly magic powers that emit from their ring. Whatever object or gadget that Green Lantern can think up, is instantly created via emerald energy by his ring.
The scenes based on Oa, the home planet of the GL Corps, are very well done and a visual feast for the eyes. The Green Lantern Corps is made up of various alien creatures, mostly taken from the comic book designs, and fans may enjoy seeing them here. The always good Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes) plays Sinestro, a fellow member of the corps who, according to comic myth, will become GL’s biggest villain. But the filmmakers must be saving that story for the sequel, because it doesn’t happen in this film. And that’s a big mistake--because the two main villains, a big smoky cloud called Parallax and a big-brained psychic named Hector Hammond, are pretty lame.
Not enough time is spent on Parallax, and so he remains this vague, abstract threat who’s winds up not very menacing. And while Peter Sarsgaard is a fine actor who gives it his all, his Hammond ultimately comes off as being too weak a threat to really give GL a run for his money. The movie is also further bogged down by badly written melodrama involving daddy issues with Jordan and Hammond, which often gives it the feeling of being a maudlin soap opera in countless scenes that are better fast-forwarded through. The recent slew of Marvel films--along with Christopher Nolan’s outstanding Batman films--all understand the concept that you have to make audiences genuinely care for the characters. If you don’t, then all you have to offer is what Green Lantern is reduced to: a dopey popcorn flick with cute eye candy.
--SF
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