Review of Green Lantern (2011) by Lewis E — 05 Nov 2014

Constantly heard how bad this was and figured I had to see it for myself. Not great by all means but it has received undue volumes of criticism considering we have had the likes of the 'Amazing Spiderman' and 'Fantastic Four' movies. Action is half-decent, helped by the fact that a magical ring with the ability to conjure imaginative objects is unique and quite cool, in my opinion anyway. The first half tells the origin story with measured pacing, and while Ryan Reynolds and the dialogue lacks the presence of say Robert Downey Jr, it doesn't overload you with stupid attempts at humour. Though unadventurous and lacking exploration of significant parts to the universe such as Sinestro and the Green Lantern Corps, it sufficiently succeeds in following the action comic movie formula which usually guarantees at least mild entertainment.

'Green Lantern' predominantly suffers at the foundation. All the talk about a green energy of will power fighting a yellow energy of fear is just too ludicrous to take seriously. Furthermore, it is guilty of abusing its material in the action sequences by including some unfathomable, or at least unexplained, occurrences (e.g. how was the Green Lantern able to go so close to the sun without burning?). While the movie certainly has its flaws, making it out like its worse than some of the other comic adaptations is misleading. What for me ultimately hurts 'Green Lantern' is the main issue in transitioning this specific comic material which requires audiences to ignore logic and use their imagination too frequently.