(Just a heads-up: I’m going to do my absolute best to not accidentally type “Green Hornet” throughout this review, so I apologize in advance if I slip up.)
Ryan Reynolds takes his turn carrying a mega-budget, comic book flick with “Green Lantern,” which is mostly comprised of parts from other (better) superhero movies.
Reynolds starts as cocky test pilot (is there any other kind?) Hal Jordan, who becomes the latest recipient of a mystical ring that grants him otherworldly powers. Hal’s ring belonged to Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison), a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic squadron whose members keep peace across the universe.
While the Green Lanterns receive their power through force of will, they are tasked with taking down Parallax, a soul-sucking entity that feeds on the fear of others. It’s a cool idea for a villain, but it’s kind of hard to connect with your antagonist when he looks like a giant cloud of gas. (Parallax basically looks like Wario farted.)
But that’s actually the least of the movie’s problems.
There’s also the fact that Ryan Reynolds isn’t quite built to carry a mega-budget comic book flick by himself. Don’t get me wrong: I like Ryan Reynolds, and the movie is mostly very smart about the way it uses him. For example, his smart-ass charm serves him well when he’s flirting with love interest Carol Ferris (Blake Lively) or when he’s stumbling around to learn the ins and outs of being a Green Lantern. It’s also no accident that the first time we see the handsome actor, he’s in his underwear. (Not to mention the fact that director Martin Campbell opted to use special effects to paint the Green Lantern’s suit on Reynolds’ body.)
The problem with Reynolds as a superhero is the whole “hero” part. He doesn’t convey the “heroic” depth needed to carry a movie like this. When Hal struggles with fear, Reynolds isn’t nearly as believable or interesting as when he’s trading light-hearted banter with someone. Maybe he’s just too young or maybe Reynolds just isn’t quite good enough of an actor yet, but he simply doesn’t bring the weight that someone like Robert Downey Jr. brought to “Iron Man” to balance the smart-ass part of the character.
Still, Reynolds was MILES better than Blake Lively. Her line readings in Carol’s very first scene with Hal were so embarrassingly bad that I actually thought for a second that her character was supposed to be deaf. (And I REALLY liked her work in “The Town.”) This was some of the worst acting I’ve seen outside of SyFy original movies and porn. Lively is unconvincing as a pilot AND as the high-ranking executive she’s supposed to be. She’s only convincing as someone who’s really hot. (At least there’s that.)
Unfortunately, the movie mostly wastes a talented supporting cast, including Peter Sarsgaard as loser scientist Hector Hammond, who becomes possessed by Parallax and who has one of the more unfortunate hairlines in recent movie history. I liked the idea that the character is basically the physical opposite of Hal, but Sarsgaard simply isn’t given much to do beyond wearing increasingly grotesque makeup.
Given even less to do were stellar actors like Angela Bassett (in a nothing role as scientist-with-a-weird-haircut Amanda Waller) and Tim Robbins, who has a freakin’ Oscar, but basically just acts like a generic jerk toward his son, Hector.
Still, the biggest problem with “Green Lantern” is that there is really nothing that makes it standout from every other superhero movie before it or any other superhero movie currently in theatres.
Reluctant/insecure hero? Check! Brainy sidekick? CHECK! Daddy issues? Double check! Sure, a lot of these elements are staples of dozens of comic books. The difference is that when a filmmaker adapts one of these stories for the screen, he or she has a chance to their own stylistic or tonal stamp on it. Some recent examples: Christopher Nolan making shoe-horning Batman into a crime drama with “The Dark Knight.” Matthew Vaughn inserting to the X-Men into a 1960’s spy caper with “First Class.”
Campbell (who made the great “Casino Royale”) does…nothing, really. The movie’s best scenes take place in outer space when Hal meets and trains with fellow Lanterns Sinestro, Tomar-Re and Kilowog. (Voiced by Mark Strong, Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan, respectively.) Still, even these scenes — a lot of people would probably complain that they look too cartoony, but I don’t mind that it occasionally looks like an animated movie — have more than a twinge of familiarity. (Guess what? At first, nobody respects Hal, but he grudgingly earns their respect!)
The movie DOES come alive whenever Hal uses his ring to conjure whatever he can imagine. Also, at less than two hours, it’s certainly one of the less butt-numbing big budget movies of the year. (Although the brisk pace leaves questions like “Were those crashed aliens from the beginning hanging around a lost planet JUST so they could free Parallax?)
“Green Lantern” is not boring, but also not really special unless you have an abnormally high fondness for Ryan Reynolds. (Which I’m sure a lot of people do.)
Green Lantern…C+
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