First of all, I should point out, I am a total Mr. Bean when it comes to Green Lantern history and mythos. Sure I know all the characters like Sinestro, Kilowog, Tomar-Re and Parallax, but I am not a total expert at the folklore of Green Lantern and always thought there was only one Green Lantern in the DC universe, John Stewart. I grew up watching The Justice League television series on Cartoon Network and never really knew that John Stewart was part of an order filled with hundreds of Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and Alan Scott included. It wasn't until the animated film, Green Lantern: First Flight arrived on DVD that I really got sucked into the vortex of Green Lantern goodness, learning of Hal Jordan and all the other famous Lanterns gathering on the planet Oa, and this really motivated me to further explore the Lantern universe and what it was all about. I learned of the Lanterns' capabilities, the magical qualities of the power ring, and that there weren't just Green Lanterns, there Blue Lanterns, Red Lanterns, White Lanterns, even Black Lanterns. I wouldn't be surprised if there were Turquoise Lanterns or Chartreuse Lanterns or even Purple Lanterns. It would surely be Barney's dream come true! So with all this Green Lantern adoration building up inside me, I was very cheerful and excited when a Green Lantern film was announced, for I would finally be able to see this whimsical, mystical world that the masterminds at DC have worked so hard to conceive and distribute come to live, come before our eyes in a realistic, life action form. I thought Ryan Reynolds was perfect to play Hal Jordan, even though he has already gotten the spotlight playing another famous comic book character on the big screen, Wade Wilson, Deadpool, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Seeing him in the "movie-tized" Green Lanter uniform for the first time was really jaw dropping for me, for he looked so awesome and luminous in it, displaying Hal Jordan in a manner appropriate for the motion picture he was starring in. And even if Hal Jordan isn't as sarcastic and cocky as Deadpool, he can still be the fun loving goofball we all know him as from the comics, always looking for ways to overcome a fight and take out the enemies forces serving Sinestro, his previous mentor. And now, after seeing the Green Lantern film, I can honestly say that this film has met these qualifications flawlessly, making this a film very different from the inked world it was based upon, but still a scrumptious piece of cake in some people's mouths.
I thought Ryan Reynolds pulled the sword out of the stone when it came to playing Hal Jordan, the most iconic and most famous of all the Lanterns. He displayed the character as a clumsy, curious and quite nervous fellow who was afraid to fulfill his dream and become a skilled pilot, witnessing his father's death in a plane related crash when he was a child and fearing he will suffer the same fate. But by the end of the film, Jordan becomes a lot braver, wiser, and secure of himself, as a lot of main protagonists in films do, taking their struggles and fears by the throat and tossing them in the nearest trash container, confronting some of the most dangerous threats known to man. Hal is quite impractical with his Lantern powers at first, getting his rear end handed to him by other Lanterns and almost killing himself on many occasions, especially during flying sequences, but he finally gets used to his abilities and uses them to his advantage when taking out the villainous Parallax, who invades the planet Earth in the film's final act. Reynolds also gives some quite laughable lines of dialogue as Jordan, showing Reynolds' genuine ability to make each role he places a comical role, a role that will not only keep viewers on the edge of their seats, but also provide a few chuckles and heart filled relief during scenes of great tension. And Reynolds is not the only one that gives a grandiose performance. Mark Strong was INCREDIBLE as Sinestro, the mentor of Hal Jordan that would soon become his mortal enemy. He embodies the character and all of his trademarks so perfectly to the point where he is Sinestro, in a similar sense to the way Jack Nicholson portrayed the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film. His voice, his actions, his posture, they all fit Sinestro meticulously, and really set in stone what kind of person Sinestro will become by the end of the film, an adversary, an arch-nemesis to all Lantern heroes, the emperor of the Sinestro Corps. I also thought Peter Sarsgaard should get some recognition for his portrayal of Dr. Hector Hammond, the big headed mad doctor who eventually becomes an enemy to Hal Jordan. He played Hammond as an average ordinary scientist who became inflicted with the DNA of Parallax, causing him to loose his mind and become a big brained, telepathic psychopath. I thought it was interesting to see what he brought to the role of Hammond, showing how obsessed and insane Hammond becomes because of his powers and showing that he will not let anyone, especially the Green Lantern, get in the way of fulfilling his evil plans. The voices actors need some credit as well, for they really made the CGI animated characters come to live in a realistic, 3-dimensional form. I couldn't possible think of anyone better to play the voice of Kilowog than Michael Clark Duncan. His rough, deepening voice really added to Kilowog's intimidating, quite threatening persona, showing that the character doesn't mess around and will grind anyone who tries to bring him down into a thick pulp. Captain Barbassa himself, Geoffrey Rush also contributes to this film as the sophisticated voice of Tomar-Re, a noble, yet resourceful character finned headed Green Lantern that introduces Hal Jordan to the world of Oa, which will will talk about next, because it was surely something to rave about.
The world of Oa was one of the most beautiful places I have ever got a glimpse of on film. It was a colorful, exuberant, yet exotic place filled with some of the best CGI I ever saw on film. It introduced many possibilities, showing all the interesting creatures and plants that inhabited the world and how big of a role it played in the Green Lantern order, all the Lanterns gathering on the world to discuss negotiations and things that must be taken into effect for the better protection of the universe. Like Coruscant in the Star Wars prequels, it had a lot to offer in the field of detail and wonder, for we could look at all the awesome things that lurked about on the world and how different it was from our own world, Earth. The scene with all the Lanterns gather as Sinestro gave his speech made my bones rattle, and I honestly felt like Hal Jordan, part of something much, much bigger than myself. And when all the Lanterns shot a beam of green light into the sky with their power rings, the magnitude was too much to handle, and I was literally blown out of my seat by how powerful the scene felt and how pivotal it was in Hal Jordan's character development. I also thought it was quite breathtaking to see what the Lanterns were able to do with there power rings, creating weapons and machinery to train with and to fight villains with. The training session with Hal Jordan and Sinestro continues to stick out in my mind, for it further showed Sinestro's disgust of the human race and the things they take for granted. The relationship between the characters was also intriguing, particularly the relationship between Hal and Sinestro, showing them as master and apprentice, but overtime, as the mentor's beliefs and opinions change, the master becomes the enemy, against all the apprentice's customs and values, against everything to do with the apprentice. I also enjoyed the humorous relationship between Hal and Kilowog, Kilowog wanting to squash Hal like a roach and beat the living tar out of him, but overtime, they become noble allies and work together to overcome evil. I'm sure everyone remembers the hilarious clip with Hal and Kilowog, which appeared in several of the film's TV spots.
(Kilowog runs up to Hal and sniffs him)
Kilowog: He smells funny!
Hal: I smell funny?
Ha! Ha! Ha! I still get a charge out of that to this very day. Even without some of the hilarious scenes present in the film, Green Lantern is still a glorious sight to behold. I enjoyed it, even though some people didn't enjoy it, and I personally don't see what everyone hated about it. Maybe it was the special effects, which I'll admit were a bit redundant at times, but I still eye popping in many ways. Maybe it was some of the acting, which I'll admit was a bit choppy and campy at times, but still intense and enjoyable in my eyes. Maybe it was the intense rushing and anticlimactic nature of some scenes. Yeh, a lot of the scenes of this film were a bit too fast and ultra paced, and really made the film a bit shorter than expected, but even that couldn't bring the film down to the ground for me. It was still the super badass Green Lantern film I had hoped it would be, a film that was willing to take risks, blend together most of the comic book material, make the Green Lantern universe a very darker, intense place than what it already was, but it ultimately payed off in the end, and I see great potential in this film spawning many sequels just as Christopher Nolan's Batman films have. Imagine all the things they could do with this newly forming film series, they could bring in all the Green Lantern characters like Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, even the original Lantern himself, Alan Scott, and have the Lanterns go up against even greater threats such as the Anti-Monitor and the Sinestro Corps, for there was a scene at the very end of the credits where the now villainous Sinestro accepts the power of fear and puts on the yellow power ring, ready to take out Hal Jordan and all the other Lanterns he once allied with. This is what makes a movie worth wild people, jaw dropping scenes after the end credits. Superhero films have been chalked full with those scenes lately, and no doubt we will see another one of those scenes at the end of the highly anticipated comic book flick, Captain America: The First Avenger. Lord knows what they will do at the end of that film to further tie it in with the upcoming Avengers movie hitting theaters next summer.
In the end, Green Lantern was a great film in my book, and I really don't understand the problem critics had with this film. Sure, it might have been a little cheesy at times, but haven't they ever seen the 60s Batman film and television series, that too was filled with many cooky moments and things that make you role on the floor laughing. As I always say, it's a matter of opinion, only you can decide whether you like a film or not, and if you back up your claim with the reason as to why you think something is good or something is bad, than you will be praised by many people who will come to agree with you and share similar believes. What might be a catastrophe to some might be a match made in heaven to others, and I personally have films that I love that others despise, this film included. But even if the film is completely and utterly terrible, I always find new and interesting things to enjoy about it, even if there are some things that I roll my eyes at and wish I wasn't apart of. So the Green Lantern was an excellent film in my book, and I'm sure there are some out there that are right up there with me, for with haters, there are also lovers, those who can see great potential in films and see what they were made for. You can really see great things in a film if you really look hard enough, things that will help distinguish it from other films you have seen or will see. And I certainly saw great things in the Green Lantern, things that differentiated it from other superhero films I have seen, things that made this one of the best superhero flicks I have ever seen in my life, things that further raised my love for comic books and comic book movies.
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