The DC universe is being shaken up recently (DC Comics to those who don't know). Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman et al are all having a massive makeover and now that Warner Bros have a gap in the market, with Harry Potter coming to an end, The Dark Knight Rises a year away and the new Superman movie coming even later, there needs to be a new franchise to enthral superhero moviegoers.
Green Lantern is a long standing comic book franchise, almost running as long as Superman and Batman themselves and now that computer generated technology has caught up and we are exposed to the wonders of 3D (I use that last statement sarcastically) Green Lantern is set up to hold the fort for the DC/Warner Bros partnership.
Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds; Buried, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) is a hotshot, maverick test pilot. He goes by his own rules and has no fear, no responsibility and frankly, no life. So when a strange alien ship (is there any other kind?) crash lands, Hal is given the chance to become a member of the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps, but can he live up to his responsibility?
Meanwhile the alien spaceship has been discovered by the government and they need to know how it works so they call upon renowned scientist, and son of Senator Hammond (Tim Robbins; City of Ember, Zathura), Dr. Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard; Orphan, An Education) to investigate.
Tormented by being thought of as not as good as others, being ignored all his life in favour of more handsome, charismatic men and being constantly pushed by his father to boost his career, Hector is on the brink of a meltdown. So when performing the autopsy a strange thing happens, the yellow fear element that powers all the villains in the universe infects Hector, making his brain swell to capacities he never dreamt possible. Add to that the evil alien entity Parallax bent on destroying the Green Lantern Corps and Hal has a lot to live up to.
Reviews of Green Lantern have been negative at best; the script is clichéd and predictable, the actors are either badly cast or badly acting and there's nothing in Green Lantern that we haven't seen before in other films such as Superman. However I will say that I liked the movie. I will agree that there's nothing particularly original about Green Lantern as a superhero movie and perhaps Ryan Reynolds doesn't really step up to the plate when it comes to coming across as a superhero we can all admire and want to be but I believe it's a good introduction to the franchise and certainly doesn't patronise and mock its audience like The Fantastic Four franchise did.
This movie knows it's a superhero movie and doesn't try to pretend to be anything more or less. Not to say that superhero movies aren't great entertainment, sometimes even for all ages. However it's unfair to compare Green Lantern to The Dark Knight, of course there are similarities; Warner Bros productions, big name director and rising star in the title role but these movies are completely different animals.
The concept of Green Lantern is a little different than usual superhero movies. The ability to create physical representations of what's in the ring bearer's mind would have to rely heavily on special effects and what with the main villain Parallax being a computer generated villain, critics would latch onto such a thing as being childish and gimmicky. Of course Green Lantern does have those elements, after all the concept started in a comic book and was far less gritty than anything Batman has had in the past 20 years but for the most part the film sticks to the source material, and knows its audience.
The best part of Green Lantern, however, is Sarsgaard's portrayal of Hector Hammond, his decline into evil madness is done very well considering the amount of prosthetics the actor had to endure but he carries it off well. The sadness of the character's look on life and his evil revenge on those he thinks deserves it are balanced well and the audience are immediately changed from sympathising to loathing the disfigured man bent on the power he could never get hold of in life.
After all the bad reviews and supposed lack of audience, Green Lantern does what you expect it to do. Don't go in expecting another mind-altering take on the superhero movie because it just won't happen and it's not meant to happen. There are questionable directions that the movie takes (like the little sympathy the audience is given for Hal Jordan's rejection of the Corps in favour for the easy life, and the casting of Blake Lively (Gossip Girl, The Town) as Carol Ferris, Hal's love interest). However, Green Lantern is a fun movie for those with no higher expectations of a superhero movie than there is usually delivered. Cartoony in nature and mirroring more than one scene from Richard Donner's Superman, Green Lantern gives those who want to reminisce on classic DC heroes a nice, easy movie. For those who are expecting something spectacular for them or their kids to embrace and love with a more kid-friendly franchise than The Dark Knight, Green Lantern's might, might not be the one you're looking for.
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