Director: Martin Campbell
Screenplay: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins
One-sentence summary: Hal Jordan finds himself as the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force tasked with keeping the universe safe.
Review: It's become something of a trend in recent history that we get massive summer tentpole films adapted from comics books. Sometimes they're runaway hits (Iron Man), sometimes they fall flat (Jonah Hex). Green Lantern was poised to become the former. How could you go wrong with Ryan Reynolds? The guy's comedic timing is genius.
You always forget about the writing.
A movie may have a massive special effects budget, but all the CGI in the world can't cover up mediocre writing. Green Lantern had a lot going for it--interesting concept, Ryan Reynolds, big budget--but somewhere along the line, the writers forgot to put heart into the script. This doesn't mean Green Lantern is a bad film. I don't think it's nearly as bad as some critics were making it out to be, but I'm singling out the writing because Green Lantern could have easily become that massive summer tentpole had they spent maybe an extra year retooling the script and trying to find the heart in the story (a la Pixar).
"But David," you say, "what about Hal's struggle with overcoming his fears and the death of his father?"
Green Lantern is sort of convenient in that the emotional spectrum literally corresponds to different emotions, but that's a poor excuse for having Hal's primary conflict be overcoming his fears (which just happens to be perfectly represented by Parallax as the antagonist; not surprisingly, Hal overcomes his fears and beats Parallax, the two practically being the same thing). Hal just isn't that compelling of a character, at least not as written in the film. Ryan Reynolds is entertaining to watch (as usual) but Hal is a little too one-note for my liking.
I've got to admit that Blake Lively didn't sell me on Carol Ferris. She was probably the weak link of the cast, and Marvel didn't do her any favors by putting out Thor the very same summer (which you may recall had Natalie Portman as the infinitely more interesting Jane Foster). However, the writers did something right and gave Carol the best scene I've ever witnessed in a superhero film.
Right after Hal saves Carol, he visits her (as Green Lantern) at her office to check on her, and Carol actually recognizes Hal underneath the mask. Hal tries to play it off at first but Carol berates him, saying, "What, did you think I wouldn't recognize you just because I can't see your cheekbones?" For all the suspension of disbelief required of us when we watch superhero films, I've still thought it ridiculous that no one ever see through the disguise, at least not in the straightforward manner Carol does. I couldn't stop laughing!
That aside, I actually do hope to see a sequel. They set it up beautifully with Sinestro putting on the yellow ring, and it's my belief that there's a better story to be told coming out of that than in the strangely hollow origin story they gave Hal. Studios should never rest on their laurels when it comes to movies that are guaranteed to make money at the box office; story should always come first because that's what will keep audiences coming back.
Final word: Green Lantern is a decent superhero film marred only by the autopilot writing.
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