Some of the behind-the-scenes staff working on Green Lantern should be shaking their heads and taking a good look at themselves. The story of legendary comic book character Green Lantern is a filmmaker’s delight. Grief, love and a personal journey, everything you need to make a brilliant film is all there, handed to them on a platter, yet even the screenwriters couldn’t get this one right, and the end what could have been equal to Iron Man has ended up being an average film.
Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds – The Change Up, Buried) has never really recovered from seeing his father die in a fiery plane crash. Following in his footsteps Hal has become a cocky, fearless fighter pilot who impresses but also infuriates his friend-since-childhood, Carol Ferris (Blake Lively – The Town, TV’S Gossip Girl). However, after a close call at work Hal’s life changes forever when he comes across a crashed UFO containing the injured, Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison – Tracker, The Marine 2). Hal soon finds himself part of the Green Lantern Corp, a type of intergalactic Police Force. And while he soon finds himself coming up against the evil Parallax and his human-sidekick, Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard – Knight And Day, Orphan) other Green Lantern Corp members such as Sinestro (Mark Strong – The Eagle, The Guard) don’t believe a human is skilled enough to hold down his role.
The screenwriters really have made a real mess of Green Lantern. The script is clunky at best as they try to fit too much into the film’s running time. Storylines revolving around Hal’s emotions around his father’s death and his relationship with his family are introduced and then forgotten while the importance of Hal’s past friendship with Hector is not mentioned until it is far too late to have the audience interested. A worse crime is the writers seem to sap every bit of drama from the early scenes involving the Parallax (making for one of the worst openings to a film ever) and write some lines that are so lame (especially between Carol and Hal) that even the writers of Days Of Our Lives would groan.
The other sad fact is that director, Martin Campbell (Edge Of Darkness, Casino Royale) seems to lose complete control of the film. Surely, he could have spoken up about the poor script and he should be shot for allowing such poor CG being released to the public. Many were predicting that the films CG would be some of the best we had ever seen, but when you compare it to a film with graphics as stunning as Avatar or Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes you are looking at a real second rate film.
The one person who can’t be blamed for Green Lantern being average is Ryan Reynolds. While many were critical of him taking the role, he was actually pretty good. We’re not talking Oscars or anything, but he does what he needs to do and makes the character of Hal Jordan totally believable. Those that were ready to criticize him should hang their heads in shame became in many ways Ryan Reynolds is what makes Green Lantern watchable.
Green Lantern is a okay watch, but will be most likely be enjoyed more by those who are fans of the comic book series as a better understanding of the characters is needed, due to the fact that the writers don’t really offer any for the audience. A scene inserted into the end credits seems to suggest that the creators are hoping for a Green Lantern 2, lets hope if they go down that path that they start again with a new team of writers and especially a new director. Okay, but could have been a hell of a lot better.
Year: 2011
Director: Martin Campbell
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively
Classification: M
Runtime: 114 mins
Buzz Rating: 
Available on DVD from 7th December, 2011