We just finished watching the opening night for Green Lantern at the Rave Theater in Kalamazoo Michigan. The movie was well constructed and delivered a good story and a wonderful summer movie-going experience. We had some problems with our local Rave Theater, their 3D projectors, Christie Projectors had some really awful color malfunctions throughout the previews but after “rebooting the projector” they got it working properly to display the movie, which we were all thankful for. In order to avoid spoiling the movie for anyone who hasn’t seen it, I’m going to place the rest of this review under a more break.
Green Lantern The Movie. It has been released upon the summer movie crowd. DC and Geoff Johns should be proud of their work. I was very pleased with what I saw depicted. Much good was done with the film, and as Ryan Reynolds said, they made this movie for the Green Lantern fans and to this, they succeeded very well! He was, as usual, very easy on the eyes and for a short while sporting those gray sleeping pants that got our attention so well when he starred in the Amityville Horror retread several years ago. The other lanterns were done wonderfully. Abin Sur, Tomar Re, Kilowog, and finally Sinestro. Mark Strong as Sinestro played it very ‘aloofly’ if that is a word, it fits quite well with the feel from the script.
What was bad about the movie? The pacing was in tatters, the script needed serious editing when you were in an island between action sequences and the score ranged from absent, to forgetful, to downright odd. All the CG was done well and Michael Clarke Duncan as the voice of Kilowog was spot on. Unfortunately they utterly botched Kilowog’s face. One other issue that still bothers me is the depiction of the Guardians on Oa. Why do they need crystal helmets? Why are their robes absurdly longer than they are? The first time I saw a Guardian the first thought that struck me was the aliens from “Mars Attacks!” and I half expected them to scream “Ack Ack Ack” and waddle around. I also had a problem with all the “making it fit the screenplay” edits that were made to all the characters. I understand it’s a movie and it’s not a silly-putty lift from the comics, but the way some characters were built, trashed, and then eliminated left a bitter taste in my mouth. I can say, that the 3D effects were a waste of money. They felt tacked on in certain places and I can’t justify seeing the movie again in 3D. With each succeeding movie I feel like 3D is just a checkbox they tick off and comes across as the worlds most obnoxious cash-grab by movie theaters. I would advise the 2D movie, and I’m looking forward to seeing Green Lantern again in 2D.
What was good about Green Lantern? Ryan Reynolds did a great job portraying Hal Jordan. Blake Lively was spot on as an early Carol Ferris as well. Hector Hammond filled the role of the villain to an acceptable degree. The character and man that really meshed really well for me was Geoffrey Rush as Tomar-Re. That performance, despite it being rather abbreviated, really did it for me. The action was done very well and about four-fifths through the movie, when you get to the climax, you are taken on a ride by Hal Jordan and Parallax that was absolutely thrilling! It had EXACTLY what I wanted, what I needed from this movie. For me, this entire later sequence was worth-and-then-some of the ticket price! The movie had Geoff Johns all over it, his pacing which worked very well in comics but may have contributed to the pacing problems I mentioned in my critical section. For all those rather plodding moves when Geoff gets enough fuel in his aircraft, he constructs something uniquely Green Lantern and exceptionally rewarding. I can’t help but be gratified to see comics playing an angle I wrote about in a blog entry a while ago about how often Sol, our star, is completely taken for granted by comic book heroes. This movie does a lot to address this issue and for that I am gratified and thankful.
The Green Lantern gets 4.1 stars out of 5 for me. It gets major kudos for CG work, the action sequences are spot on, the story, when it’s finally going is kick-ass but the movie gets dinged for its awful pacing, tattery script, and botched score. I am a die-hard Green Lantern fanboy and I will be seeing this movie several more times. I’m a Green Lantern junkie and this movie has the fix I need. I can only hope that this movie makes its original investment back to the producers. I’m not sure if a sequel is going to be in the cards for this film. Only time will tell.
If I weren’t a fanboy, I’d consider this movie worthy of a matinee price. Being a fanboy, I don’t care what it costs, it’s Green Lantern! 🙂