Green Lantern

 Green Lantern is one of those movies hat is far from great, but the harsh reviews that critics gave this movie ended up being pretty unfair in my mind. I think critics went into this movie with too high of expectations because of Thor and X-Men: First Class opening in the summer of 2011 before Green Lantern. Had Green Lantern opened before these two movies I believe the reviews would have been a lot more favorable. I felt that while it is not one of the best super hero movies ever made it was still enjoyable and better then a lot of other movies that have been put out by movie studios. Green Lantern ended up giving me exactly what I expect from a super hero movie with a strong battle between good and evil, a reason to care for the super hero and at the same time strong action with a decent story. Green Lantern though was one of those super hero comics that I know very little about, but the general powers from a ring that bends to the will and mind of the person wearing the ring to create anything the person can think up.

The acting in Green Lantern was a lot better then what I expected after hearing what the reviews said. Ryan Reynolds in the role of Hal Jordan who becomes Green Lantern, was really a lot better then what I expected going in. I knew Reynolds would easily come across as a likable hero as Hal Jordan, simply because of his ability in the romantic comedy roles to be a very likable character. I was not sure though how he would fare in the action sequences and if he would be able to command the screen as a super hero. In the end he really ended up giving a strong performance and I felt like he completely engrossed himself into the persona of Hal Jordan and Green Lantern. Blake Lively in the role of Carol, the main love interest and lifelong friend to Hal Jordan gives a pretty decent performance. While I am sure a big part of her being cast was because of her eye candy appeal, she showed she can simply be more then eye candy and I felt that she was able to bring a great amount of emotion to her scenes and she seemed to not only connect with her co-stars, but she also connected with the audience. Peter Sarsgaard in the role of Hector Hammond, one half of the villain for Green Lantern to go against. Sarsgaard has a great ability to play a role with such ease that it comes off as if he is not playing a character onscreen, but that he is truly that character. The progression that we see in his character is perfect and it is through this progression that we are able to see the depth as to why his character is overcome and allows the power of fear to control him into being evil, while on the opposite end of the spectrum Hal is able to use his past to overcome the fear and use his willpower. The rest of the supporting cast are very minimal, which has its strengths and weaknesses, but in the end all of the characters seem to serve a purpose for each moment in which they are onscreen.

The story for Green Lantern ended up being precisely what I expect when going in to see a super hero movie. While one of the big aspects in super hero movies of late has been the use of a darker, grittier story telling. The story for Green Lantern being lighthearted and not being serious, but having those moments with great comedy seemed to fit perfectly. Unfortunately, the story did have its downfall moments throughout. The aspect for the story was that there were really some characters that were glossed over when it would have been more beneficial to give the characters more development. One such character was that of Sinestro, with where his story arc is going for a possible future movie. I did not feel like there was enough back story and development with his story to know why he made the decision he did toward the end of the movie. With the movie being under two hours, They could have made the decision to have added more time in the end to give the characters some additional depth that would have only strengthened the movie in the end. The action sequence while far from amazing, they worked very well for  everything that was happening in the movie. The direction ended up doing a great job at making all the sequences flow seamlessly. The CGI used for the Green Lantern suit I felt was done very well and I thought that they made the suit look pretty awesome in the end. There were however moments where the CGI came across as being pretty CGIish particularly some moments with Parallax. Parallax, I felt could have been a lot more fear inducing, but because of a lack of strength in the CGI came across just as being a huge villain in size and not in fear.

Green Lantern was a super hero movie that was a lot better then what a lot of the critics gave it. The acting ended up being pretty strong and ended up giving the exact type of performances that is needed for a super hero movie. I felt that this movie had a lot more going for it then what the credits gave them credit for and while it did have its weaknesses, it was still a fairly enjoyable movie to watch. The story for Green Lantern ended up being precisely what was needed for this movie to be successful and enjoyable to watch. This light story telling ended up fitting the persona of Green Lantern very well.  While I felt that they could have made this movie a little longer I am giving Green Lantern two and three fourth buckets of popcorn out of five. This is a movie that is worth the price to rent and simply because it is a super hero movie it will end up getting added to the movie collection in the near future

-The Movie Man