Green Lantern: Extended Cut (Blu-ray)

This is a deeply flawed film. But still, I think, an underrated one. A film probably not _quite_ fully deserving of its profoundly unimpressive box office numbers and many critical pannings.

The best thing about this movie are its visuals. Here, it's utterly electrifying and completely true to the original comic book vision. On this level it also benefits enormously from taking itself entirely seriously, a strength that unfortunately does not flow through into too many other aspects of the work.

The problems, you see, are in the writing.

It has been said that at the heart of all stories there is only one story: the hero's journey to find him or her self. That's what we get here. The trouble is, this hero's inner quest is utterly banal. The lessons learned are about as deep and interesting as those to be found in the latest disposable self-help paperback chock full of dime-store psychobabble. Or even, dare I say it, penny arcade psychobabble.

Incidentally, while we're on the subject of character, to be completely fair, even though the leading man and lady seem to have been chosen mainly on the basis of their looks, both do at least a credible job of standing up and reading their lines. Of course, we're still left with the problem that those lines suck, but yes, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively both put in a solid if unremarkable showing. The only really noteworthy performance is by Mark Strong as Sinestro. What's truly impressive here is that we do get to see the well-intentioned man that Sinestro starts out as, while just subtly hinting at the tragic flaws that will ultimately lead to his damnation.

Strong's work aside, the best performances in this film are by those who are merely lending their voices to various CGI creations. This includes Geoffry Rush who provides the voice of Tomar-Re, and Michael Duncan in the role of Kilowog. The only other actor I'd like to pick out by name is Clancy Brown, who provides the voice of Paralax. While best known for his role as the Kurgan in the original Highlander, he's also had a very successful voice acting career. In Bruce Timm's original DC Animiated Universe, Brown owned Lex Luthor like Kevin Conroy owned Batman, although sadly, he never seemed to receive the same level of recognition for doing so. While hardly used to his fullest potential in this film, he is at least worthy of an honorable mention.

Fundamentally, I would have to say that the problem with this work is that the director and screenwriters didn't take what they were doing even the tiniest bit seriously. I'd hazard a guess to say that these are not people who watch - or read - anything in the superhero genre in their off-hours. So on the most fundamental level, what I really think was lacking here was any respect at all for the source material.

When someone like Frank Miller comes along and thinks seriously about who his characters are and why they do the things they do, it shows. Similarly so on the acting front when people like Christian Bale and Kevin Conroy portray the Bat. But when someone comes along and says "Hey, let's do a summer blockbuster - we'll make tons of money!", that also shows. Because frankly, that's the kind of thinking that shines through in this mediocrity.

It doesn't completely suck. I suspect that somewhere, far behind the scenes, deep in the CGI department, there were some geek true believers who sincerely loved the Green Lantern mythos.

Unfortunately, their work is very close to being the only thing in this movie that's worth watching.

Theo.

3.5 out of 5

When dying alien and Green Lantern Abin Sur is discovered by brash and cocky fighter pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), Hal’s life is suddenly changed when the mysterious alien gives him a green power ring and matching lantern with vague instructions to “speak the oath.”

After finally unlocking the lantern, Hal is taken to the planet Oa where he learns he has become Abin Sur’s successor in the Green Lantern Corps and is also the first human to ever bear the powerful mantle of a Green Lantern.

As part of his training, Hal is taken under the wing of a powerful Lantern named Sinestro (Mark Strong) whose view of right and wrong is sheer black and white, and who has no trouble enforcing the law with lethal force. Turns out Sinestro wasn’t the first to feel this way as long ago one of the creators of the lantern rings—the Guardians of Oa—disagreed with the Oan Council and set off on his own, discovering a new power, this one the yellow power of fear. Now the super powered being Parallax, this former Guardian wishes to take revenge on those who banished him.

As Hal learns what it means to set aside his own pride and ego and live by the sacred Green Lantern oath--In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power, Green Lantern’s Light!--he must come to grips with his newfound power and expel Parallax’s presence from the universe once and for all.

After the crazy success of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Warner Brothers and DC Comics were in big need of another hit after Superman Returns failed to deliver at the box office, and so they went to another DC hero: Green Lantern. Good choice. He’s a kind of Superman/Batman hybrid in that Hal Jordan is human and has the qualities and struggles thereof like Bruce Wayne, and yet by wielding his power ring, his superpowers get up there right alongside the Last Son of Krypton in many ways. Whether this was Warners’ reasoning or not, I don’t know—probably not—but GL was certainly a good character to try and take to the big screen especially since it had never been done before.

In a nutshell, the movie wasn’t bad. I liked it. It didn’t change my life, but it’s not the piece of garbage many folks make it out to be. It covered Hal Jordan’s transformation into Green Lantern, delivered awesome effects, created a sense of atmosphere both about the Green Lantern Corp and Oa, and came through on telling a simple story that got Hal Jordan from Point A to B in a reasonable amount of time.

People complained there wasn’t enough action or not enough stuff on Oa—but those kinds of things are—and weren’t—supposed to be the focus of this movie. It was about getting the ring into Hal’s hands and teaching him the ol’ Uncle Ben motto of “With great power comes great responsibility.”

I like how it took time to get Hal used to using the ring and it wasn’t a case of him putting it on and suddenly becoming an expert on creating green light constructs. And once he figured it out, I enjoyed how his constructs were simple—the racetrack, machine guns, etc.—as opposed to something crazy or way too technical. Why? Put yourself in his shoes. You’d probably construct something you’re more comfortable with than trying to create some big complicated airship stocked with robot soldiers with a zillion weapons and stuff.

The love story between Hal and Carol Ferris (Blake Lively) seemed forced though it did provide a nice bridge between the realm of Oa and Earth. Clearly this relationship was introduced for sequel purposes because those who know the comics know Carol Ferris becomes the supervillain Star Sapphire down the line.

I think in the end, Green Lantern did its job. Could it have been better? Sure. Could it have been worse? Yup.

Regardless, I like popping this movie into the player from time to time, and if you’re a superhero fan, you should, too.

Green Lantern had lots of potential. Enjoyed the first moments quite well but it slowly fizzled from that moment on. At the end of the movie it left me wanting more