Review: Green Lantern

Since the idea of a Green Lantern movie was first batted around a few years ago, it was always clear that it would be a project fraught with risks. An interstellar police force that draws power from green power rings and valiantly does battle against evil, injustice and the dastardly power of the colour yellow is a pretty tough sell, especially given the pseudo-credible superhero films that audiences have grown accustomed to. But there was an enticing opportunity, too: to create a colourful superhero epic of truly cosmic scale and ambition, set against the backdrop of distant galaxies and alien space unicorns rather than dreary old earth.

Now that Green Lantern has finally landed, it's become depressingly clear that the most epic thing about this movie is its lacklustre execution and the ease with which the whole story slips from memory on leaving the cinema. The film is not without its fleeting charms, but any strengths find themselves completely outmatched by a plot so bereft of drama that events seem to unfurl in a dull green blur.

Early signs provoked a wave of cautious optimism from fans. Ryan Reynolds looked good as Hal Jordan in the trailers, Martin Campbell (director of GoldenEye and Casino Royale) was at the helm, and early footage showed off fancy effects shots of the Green Lantern homeworld Oa. You can even look at my own summer movie preview for a prime example of the doomed hope that was circling around Green Lantern a couple of months ago.

But from the outset, the film starts to unravel. Instead of introducing us to Hal Jordan and establishing the characters who will accompany him on his journey, we're subjected to a barrage of exposition explaining the background of the Green Lantern Corps, which many eons ago split the known universe into three thousand-and-something sectors, with a Green Lantern assigned to protect each one. We also make the acquaintance of Parallax, a bubbling mass of evil yellow space diarrhea that feeds on fear and serves as the film's main threat. The creature was imprisoned by legendary Green Lantern Abin Sur, but has now escaped, sending a dying Abin Sur haring off to earth to find a suitably square-jawed human replacement.

When Abin Sur crash lands on earth, his power ring (a weapon that creates constructs through its user's willpower and imagination) chooses Hal Jordan, a cocky test pilot held back by memories of his pilot father's death in a plane crash. While Hal cruises to Oa to learn all about his new duties, spurned scientist Hector Hammond is tasked with studying Abin Sur's corpse, and is promptly infected by traces of Parallax, which turns him into a puppet of the monster and turns his head into a gigantic testicle. Cue Parallax heading to our planet, and a newly anointed Hal Jordan's attempt to overcome his daddy fears and save all life on earth.

Green Lantern's main offender is a clunky, often embarrassing script that introduces characters to push the plot or provide motivation for Jordan before unceremoniously jettisoning them without another mention (Angela Bassett's utterly anonymous government agent Amanda Waller is a prime example). Jordan's own character arc is hardly gripping either, amounting to little more than the standard "be handsome, overcome fear, live up to dead dad" trope that we've seen time and again in superhero movies.

The script also fails to inject any urgency or drama into proceedings. Jordan's trips to Oa, which should always have been the film's crown jewel, are insultingly brief, relegating fellow Lanterns like Sinestro (Mark Strong), Tomar-Re (Geoffrey Rush) and Kilowog (Michael Clarke Duncan) to living mouthpieces, explaining the Lanterns' powers and history. Key scenes are often bizarrely edited, leading to a steady flow of jarring, incongruous moments.

The film's effects range from excellent to shoddy, the beauty and detail of Oa contrasting with Jordan's ugly CG mask and a couple of downright inept action shots. For the most part, Hal's Green Lantern powers are effectively and imaginatively employed, however, Jordan creating all number of impromptu objects, including chainsaws, flame throwers and even a giant spiral race track, to overcome his enemies. The action scenes peppered throughout the movie are well-executed and occasionally thrilling, particularly an early dog-fight between a pre-Lantern Hal and two automated fighter jets.

Ryan Reynolds' turn as Jordan is really the only performance worth analysing, given that most other characters are completely side-tracked by the script. He's typically charming and witty, and does well despite the limitations foisted on him by the script; after all's said and done, Reynolds is the most enjoyable element of the film by some margin. Blake Lively's performance as love interest Carol Ferris is so flavourless that one can only pity the actor, who was so impressive in The Town last year, for the gaping hole where her character should have been. Peter Saarsgard's Hector Hammond goes from mild-mannered nerd to scenery-chewing bollock-head with such speed that he loses all credibility, a problem compounded by the complete lack of grounding for the character, or his pre-existing but completely unexplained relationship with Jordan and Ferris.

With Green Lantern, all the raw materials seemed to be in place for a superhero adventure that offered something different from all the scowling men in capes and tortured teenagers that have populated summer blockbusters of the last five years. Unfortunately, it's a sad disappointment from start to finish, with only Reynolds' strong performance and a couple of stand-out action scenes enlivening an experience that feels more like a cobbled-together collection of scenes than a coherent, confident film.

Satisfaction Score: 4/10
Interest Score: 3/10

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