Review of 'Green Lantern'

The Green Lantern Corps has existed for centuries and polices the universe powered by the “will” of it's inhabitants. Many years ago one of the council that governs the corps decided to use “fear” instead and was turned into an ultra-powerful evil being known as “Parallax”. Long imprisoned he has now been freed and threatens the universe. On earth cocky test pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) takes very few things seriously and disappoints many. When he stumbles across a crashed spaceship containing a dying member of the Green Lantern corps he picks up the ring before the alien passes away. The ring gives Hal the ability to create, in a green shimmering light, anything he can dream of. Setting aside his fear and considering the love he has for his colleague, Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), and his son he is soon drawn into the battle against Parallax (voiced by Clancy Brown)…if he can figure out how to use his powers first.

I was prepared to like “Green Lantern” staring as it does one of my favourite comedic/action actors Ryan Reynolds (from Deadpool fame, filmed 5 years later) but, sadly, even his humour and screen presence does little to save a shaky script, fairly boring storyline (bad guy threatening the universe who can only be defeated by a misfit from Earth) with little emotional depth to the characters. Hal is a bit of a jerk and stays a jerk for the whole film. Sure, some of the actions sequences are alright but are often absurd in the extreme - A crashing helicopter turned into a racing car driving a curving track in mid-air that still manages to crash in a heap of debris? Even the climax is disappointing with the final battle resolved fairly simply by the newbee rather than the 1000s of other Green Lanterns whose average IQ is well beyond Hal's.

No, it is not great but if you want a silly, dumb superhero film this might be for you. For me I want something somewhat better.

Rating: “Not great, but not the worse”

Review Date: 2022-07-25

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Studio: Warner Bros.

Year: 2011

Length: 114 minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1133985/

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