Warning: Contains spoilers
Most summer superhero blockbusters deliver fun superhero action movies without any real substance. They are fun and likeable, but by time the movie is over, the audience will leave with a shallow understanding of the characters and the plot. Green Lantern is no exception.
On the positive side, Green Lantern creates entire other worlds and they look great. The effects really shine in 3D, and provide a unique depth of field to the scenes. The Green Lantern’s powers, explosion debris and vast shots of scenery show this. The final battle/showdown between Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) and the behemoth fear-mongering Parallax is quite the epitome of movie magic.
Another thing that is strong about Green Lantern is the movie’s premise; it’s cool. There is a ring, that all green lanterns wear, that allows its wielder to physically create anything they can think of by using their will. Seeing what Hal and other green lanterns create in the action sequences is one of the things that make this movie worth seeing.
To give it credit, the setting is very cool due its extensive mythology. However, the movie just doesn’t go into much detail about it. The mythology of the green lanterns is wrapped up in a few lines by a narrator within the first couple minutes and a few more brief times throughout. If the movie had shown more of the history instead of just telling the exposition, it might be better. The movie had a lot of potential to be great with the green lantern universe, but it does not bring enough of it to the table.
In truth, it seems the movie just focuses on its looks and leaves out a much needed development of its characters and plot. Protagonist Hal Jordan isn’t deep enough, and when the movie tries to show who he is, it’s told haphazardly and comes off as shallow story telling. For example, (spoiler alert) early on, Hal’s jet fighter stalls in a demonstration and he has a flash back to his father’s, who was also a pilot, plane crash. This sort of explains Hal’s fears–which is a major theme of the movie–but the memory is only mentioned one time, and it’s just thrown in there.
Another problem is whenever Hal is thrust into space to the green lantern home world and is gaining his powers, he just goes along with it like it’s nothing new. The writing of the movie is pretty thin. The characters and the plot just simply are, and there isn’t any substance to them.
As for the acting, there is a big lack of chemistry between the actors. Especially Ryan Reynolds and love interest Blake Lively. It’s understood they loved each other at one point, but the movie doesn’t explain or show why. Not many of the interactions or emotions onscreen seem believable.
At the same time though, this movie is a lot of fun. The action and special effects are awesome, and the idea of it all is interesting. Green Lantern isn’t in the league of great superhero movies like The Dark Knight, but it provides all with a cool and simple summer blockbuster.
2.5 out of 5 stars