Green Lantern review

Okay. I went to see Green Lantern last night & spent a lot of today thinking about it and mulling it over in my head. As a fan of the franchise, though not specifically a Hal fan (I’m more of a Guy guy) I was initially excited but thrown off by the first trailer. I remained cautiously optimistic and found all the negative reviews very disappointing. However, I had my ticket since Tuesday and was going with a group of friends.

This film had good points and bad points but I have to say, were these reviewers even watching the same film as I? What I mean is, I can see the problems in Green Lantern but from reading various reviews you would think that these problems made the film unwatchable. So here’s my thoughts…

The good.

The effects. The CGI that had been so worrisome from the trailers has been tightened up and looks superb, not Avatar or Tron: Legacy superb but you know what I mean. The computer rendered motion capture suit looks very good but the mask can be a little jarring at first (though you quickly get used to it) The constructs are imaginative and the climax is fantastic. Oa looks nicely rendered, though it’s quite different to the comics. Other lanterns such as Tomar-Re are also very well done and feel real.

The comedy. The film itself isn’t a comedy but it does have some comedic elements. These were all well executed without overloading the film or drifting into slapstick. Likewise, the film makes sure that it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The bad.

The tone/editing. This film had quite a dramatic shift in tone at times though that can be put down to sub-par editing and directing/screenplay. One notable example is when Hal first recites the oath. This should be a big moment in the film and we thing we’re going to fly to Oa but instead we suddenly find ourselves in a bar scene with Carol. In my opinion, this scene should have been after he got back from Oa. Likewise, Sinestro at one point mentions taking a squad of lanterns and going after Paralax. There is a brief scene showing them leaving Oa with intense music but we suddenly cut back to an Earth scene, then cut back to the lanterns attack.

At one point about half way through we have the beauty shot of Oa. The only problem here is that we have seen it already with the scene of Sinestro confronting the guardians about Paralax.

The only time this works well is the quick cuts between Hal speaking the oath and Hector getting infected by Paralax. This does a good job of showing how this event changed both their lives forever as well as juxtaposing their opposite paths towards good and evil.

The screenplay. The plot of Paralax destroying worlds often takes a back seat for the Hal/Carol relationship. The film suffers for this as we don’t really see how much of a threat Paralax can be until the end. The set-up for Hector Hammond is also explored in length but his final confrontation with Hal is over all too quick for the amount of time put into developing the villain.

The mixed.

The acting. This was quite mixed with Hal, Hector and especially Sinestro doing good jobs with the material given them, especially Mark Strong who wasn’t given near enough screen-time. Tim Robbins didn’t really have anything really meaty to do. Blake Livley put up quite a wooden performance and seems nowhere near the next big thing her agents are desperately claiming her to be.

Overall, this is quite a good film. It’s not great but is far from disappointing. The action was excellent but I wish there had been more of a focus on the cosmic elements of the mythos. Also, more Kilowog! I would rate this film a 7 out of 10. Not as good as Iron Man but much better that Iron Man II. I realize that I may get some flak over this but I would rate Green Lantern as just above Thor. This is not The Dark Knight, nor is it trying to be. But what it is, is a fun summer popcorn film and setup for a potentially fantastic sequel.