Matt’s Review: ‘Green Lantern’ Caters To Its Target Audience, But That’s Not Bad Thing

GRADE: B+

Green Lantern was a movie I expected to disappoint. It surrounds a hero I know very little about. Ryan Reynolds is not my favorite actor — I don’t love Blake Lively either. The film was also converted to 3D in post production, which usually yields poor results. The initial previews left me skeptical as I could not embrace the campy full CGI suit Reynolds adorns after using his power ring. On top of my own suspicions, the film currently has a 23% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. However, don’t be swayed by the harsh critics, because  I am here to say most comic fans and and any Sci-Fi nerd should feel right at home watching Green Lantern.

First off, DO NOT FORGET TO STAY PAST THE FIRST BATCH OF CREDITS IF YOU SEE THE FILM! The end has one of the better teases leading to a sequel I have ever seen. I was twitching with excitement after watching the final Green Lantern scene.

Green Lantern follows the irresponsible self-involved fighter pilot Hal Jordan getting a change in his life via a mystical ring choosing him to join the heralded Green Lantern Corps. His life is turned completely around as he learns the ring not only comes with seemingly unyielding power, but with the responsibility of acting as protector for Earth and its surrounding alien civilizations. This really is the typical egotistical-figure transforming to selfless ‘hero’ story. While this tale has been done many times before, Green Lantern brings some creativity to the table — mostly through the imaginative visuals.

The ring and the other Lanterns are powered by all the will in the universe, and an unknown enemy is destroying planets and killing Lanterns with the power of fear. These two opposing forces come to a standoff that finishes with a visually stunning and satisfying conclusion.

Green Lantern established an identity off the bat, and stuck with it until the end. This was not a serious super-hero flick along the lines of Batman Begins or this month’s X-Men: First Class. The light-hearted and fun film was led by the playful performance of Reynolds as Hal Jordan. While the film rarely took itself too seriously, it doesn’t shy away from somber story lines like jealously, fear, and failure.

The cast was solid and helped make this film much more than a simple action flick. Reynolds did a fine job carrying it with his flawed character that acts untouchable, but has many insecurities stemming from the death of his father. Blake Lively was not only gorgeous, but gave a fairly standard character some spirit. Her character lacked a sense of depth, but that was the fault of the screenwriters.

The opposition or hurdles were well written and played by Peter Sarsgaard and Mark Strong. Sarsgaard played the villain Dr. Hector Hammond and Strong expertly portrayed the condescending and doubting elder Lantern called Sinestro. These two help define the conflict that stand in the way of the newest Green Lantern.

For being converted to 3D, the film looked pretty good throughout. I still am not impressed enough with 3D to accept spending three extra dollars to see a movie in the third dimension, but the action scenes in Green Lantern showed there are upsides to the latest Hollywood trend. The shots on Earth were mostly domestic, lacking any real dimension to the images. But when the scenes were almost 100% CGI, like the shots taking place on the Lantern’s planet Oa, the landscapes and the action popped. The final battle in this film was accentuated with the well crafted imaginative action unfurling in 3D. Also, this was one of the few 3D films I’ve seen that still had bright vibrant colors despite the dim of the 3D glasses.

The story itself was slow moving early on, but Green Lantern hit its stride after passing the halfway point. A lot of the story unfolded via exposition, which was necessary to tell this all encompassing tale, but at times it felt lazy. It did not help make the story more interesting when the characters are simply talking about their history. Late in the movie a past was revealed between central characters — this was way too late in the game for the audience to care for or soak in the implications of these relationships. The script was strong at points, and very weak at others. It was much stronger towards the end of the film, which is why I felt Green Lantern was a success.

Overall, Green Lantern was entertaining and fun. It didn’t spend time being something it wasn’t. It’s not going to make you think deeply or ‘wow’ you with layers of complexity, but it will simply help you escape reality for 2 hours. Green Lantern is more Sci-Fi than most superhero movies — Sci-Fi is typically a niche market — it may turn a lot of the general public off to the film — like most of the critics.

What Should You Do? If you are a nerd, this movie is right up your alley. If you aren’t, it might be better for you skip this one and see Bridesmaids or X-Men: First Class.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdeery