Review of Green Lantern (2011) by De Shawn H — 16 Sep 2013

(4/10).

Green Lantern is a very disappointing super-hero movie that completely squanders the source material and origin story of one of my favorite super heroes. Ryan Reynolds is fatally miss-cast as Hal Jordan and his normal boy-ish charisma doesn't suit the character at all. While this is no means the worst super-hero movie out there or even the worst DC comic adaptation movie (*ahem* Catwoman *ahem*), this is easily the most disappointing one because it had potential to be great. It was even directed by Martin Campbell, who directed Goldeneye and Casino Royale, reviving James Bond not once, but TWICE in the process. Another actor who is mis-used is Blake Lively, who plays Ryan Reynold's love interest. They don't really do much with her in the story and I didn't buy their relationship at all.

The movie isn't completely without merit though. There are scenes where Ryan Reynolds is training to be part of the Green Lantern Corps. that are actually entertaining and funny. Another part of the movie that was actually fairly decent was Peter Sarsgaard, who plays Dr. Hector Hammond. His performance is easily the best in the movie and his character serves as a secondary villain for Ryan Reynolds, although his motives are kind of muddled.

The main villain however, is a supernatural, all-powerful being called Parallax and he is awakened accidentally by a group of people and is now headed for Earth. Literally the only thing Parallax does in the film is float through space. He is probably the most laughable villain in any comic book movie ever. He is a floating cloud in space who does nothing for the entire movie even though everyone talks about how dangerous and powerful he is. This situation is almost identical to Clash of the Titans in the sense that everyone talks about how incredible and unstoppable the Kraken is for the entire movie, but when he shows up, he is vanquished instantly. When Parallax finally gets to Earth after an hour and a half, Ryan Reynolds literally defeats him a minute and a half later. He is vanquished instantly, just like the Kraken.

I honestly hope Green Lantern gets re-booted sometime in the future because his mythology could make for a great super-hero movie. Most things in this movie range from terrible to average, with the exception of Peter Sarsgaard, who is actually pretty good in his role. All in all, this movie isn't horrendous, but it just feels like a missed opportunity.