Review of Green Lantern (2011) by Willstarr — 21 Jun 2011

Fact: Green Lantern has a history spanning over four decades and DC tried to cram a lot of it into a 2 hour flick. Is it any wonder then that the content seems a bit rushed or compressed? I think not, yet consider it a foundation movie.

Okay, many DC Hal Jordan fans will probably not appreciate some of Hal's ring constructs. Hal never used complicated machinery like mini-guns or Anti Aircraft guns, but at least they kept to the more contemporary treatment of overcoming fear rather than the original fearless concept, definitely more believable! The more missing bits for me were more the camaraderie of the Corps, they have always been something like the Musketeers, all for one and one for all.

Still they did come save Hal from burning up in the sun, too little too late for me personally. If you are not a rigid fan of the comics you can appreciate the struggles of the Hal Jordan that suddenly and very unexpectedly is handed over such power.

You can even root for him as an underdog against the somewhat condescending alien species who look down on the young emotional humans. But they got one thing right, though often doubting, Hal never gives up and fights for his friends, the world, and yes also the universe.

Sinestro, Kilowog, Tomar Re, and Abin Sur were well portrayed and most comic book fans would appreciate that but have wanted to see more. The final scene was classic Sinestro and well positions the sequel in what could become a great franchise if they don't try to cover so much in the next movie.

53 million the opening weekend may make the sequel a reality and if so they need to have a stronger plot, more Corps camaraderie and more character interaction between Corp members that somehow manage to unite in purpose despite such diversity.