Green Lantern

Based on the long-running comic book, Green Lantern follows cocky fighter pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) as he’s transformed into the title superhero by a mysterious alien force – with the film subsequently detailing Hal’s efforts at battling both a mutated scientist (Peter Sarsgaard’s Hector Hammond) and an enormous, deadly force known as Parallax. There’s little doubt that Green Lantern gets off to as disastrous and underwhelming a start as one could possibly envision, as director Martin Campbell opens the proceedings with an otherworldly, exposition-heavy stretch that’s almost entirely devoid of context or compelling characters – with the outer-space locale exacerbating the nigh unwatchable nature of this portion of the proceedings (ie the relentless emphasis on computer-generated special effects results in an atmosphere akin to a video game). The inevitable segue into Hal’s down-to-earth exploits fares just as poorly, as the character initially comes off as a one-dimensional protagonist that does, for the most part, feel like a prototypical Reynolds character (ie he’s cocky, arrogant, and awfully sarcastic). The presence of several noteworthy performers within the supporting cast – Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins, Jay O. Sanders, etc – proves instrumental in cultivating a relatively watchable atmosphere, and although the movie flounders each and every time it leaves our planet (eg were the spacebound training sequences really necessary?), Green Lantern benefits substantially from the inclusion of a few Superman-like action sequences and from an exciting (and surprisingly epic) final battle between Hal and Parallax. The end result is an overlong and thoroughly uneven big-budget blockbuster that just barely earns a passing grade, and there’s ultimately no denying that the movie could’ve used a few more passes through the editing bay.

**1/2 out of ****