I would like to make an announcement to people who are on the verge of reading this: I am a cynical and judgmental ass when it comes to comic book movies.
Aside from my bias against Reynolds as Hal Jordan
The movie starts off rather slow with the backstory of the Guardians and Lanterns; however, it has omissions/revisions that serve no purpose (like altering Parallax’s story). The protagonist (Hal) is then introduced as a rebellious and comedic test pilot, while simultaneously displaying his fear of the past and present. Fear: noun. the opposite of what it takes to be a Green Lantern. This theme of Hal being afraid of past and present experiences is constant throughout and perplexes the viewer as to why he was given a ring. The introduction of Carol Farris (Blake Lively) is also carried out during the opening of the film, although she serves no purpose aside from portraying a small shoulder of comfort for Hal and being a damsel in distress. Carol could have been replaced by Hal’s 90 year old grandfather to emulate the same effect. The movie also enjoys dispensing dry and romantic longueurs between Hal and Carol, which have constant repetition and add nothing to the plot. Hal also comes across as quite temperate: despite being the first human to have contact with ET life. This builds up to nothing more than Hal attempting to understand the ring and lantern through comedic means, as opposed to any substantial additions to the plot or his character. His time on Oa consists of checking himself out in the mirror, a two minute training session, and then retreating to Earth after fear gets the best of him (yet again). Sinestro (Mark Strong) finally gets some decent screen time on Oa, however, he offers nothing aside from giving speeches about impending dooms that never come. Back on Earth, where most of this takes place, Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard) develops as a human turned psychic/telekinetic mutant that somehow attracts Parallax’s attention. Hector also serves as the third member in a pointless love triangle. However, his new gifts soon lead to some collusion between Hector and Parallax. Parallax as a character is quite flawed, as he is given petty human emotions that drive him to Earth (as opposed to Oa), and in turn lead to his demise. While trying to deal with Parallax, Sinestro magically convinces the immortal Guardians of the Universe to create a yellow ring of power for him to use in order to defeat Parallax. Oddly enough, it was already explained early in the story that the yellow power corrupted a previous Guardian (who is now Parallax), which led them to this debacle in the first place. If you’re nonplussed by why they agreed to make a ring, you’re not the only one (as the convoluted script is the biggest issue). Lastly, Hal’s battle with Parallax is mediocre at best. It’s fairly slow, predictable, and cliché. Parallax, the giant rain cloud, crawls across screen while Hal decides to play hero after no training what so ever. Hal constructs simplistic objects through his will (which come about from prior experiences), to deter Parallax from destroying Earth as opposed to Oa. Hal appears to take Parallax through space and towards the asteroid belt (which isn’t portrayed as it is in reality), where they end up in front of the Sun without explanation. Hal then uses brains over brawns to defeat Parallax. Hal uses all his will to not get sucked into the Sun, but has Parallax get sucked in instead. You may ask how an ex-immortal Guardian of the universe is outsmarted by an ape…but you will receive no answer. The disorientation continues after this battle, as Hal seems to pass out within kilometres from the Sun, yet he does not get sucked in or lose his shield. Hal just seems to linger without burning to a crisp despite fighting for his life earlier. I know it is sci-fi, but changing physics and astronomy is not cool. Shortly after, Hal is rescued by Sinestro and his gang (the gang that couldn’t defeat Parallax with their small army, yet Hal could do it alone, full of fear, and after being a Green Lantern for maybe less than a week). In short, the movie comes across as a B-rated sci-fi flick, created last year, by three writers who didn’t meet until post production. There is no real leitmotif or theme throughout the entire movie. There is about as much creativity on the writer’s part, as there is in Hal’s constructs (which equates to none). Unfortunately, the best part of the movie is the “easter egg” halfway through the end credits; the rest of the movie serves as a 200million dollar trailer. No character has any real depth or progression, so it’s hard to invest in them. For example, Hal just has fear and fearless. This simple dichotomy doesn’t add much of anything for the movie, so you don’t feel for him or his outlandish accomplishment in the end. Oh, and there are no 3D elements. This begs the questions: why did they make us pay for it?
Special thanks to Branvan3000 (per our discussion).
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