Green Lantern Review (2011)

Green Lantern is the latest DC comic character to get the big screen treatment with Ryan Reynolds stepping into the green suit. Ryan plays test pilot Hal Jordan who is given a ring which grants superpowers by a dying alien and is recruited into an alien peace-keeping force. At first Hal doesn't want the responsibility but after a threat on Earth and the rest of the Lanterns, Hal chooses to become a hero.

The story feels like a bigger one to come with no word yet on whether their will be a sequel or if Warner/DC are planning a Justice League like Marvel with The Avengers. Peter Sarsgaard plays nerd Hector Hammond in a very traditional villain ( Hector being ugly as hell, Hal being pin-up beautiful) but is more of a right hand man then full blown super villain. The main Villain is a big Yellow tentacled cloud with an alien head. Mark Strong does well as Corps member Sinestro who may or may not turn evil if a sequel happens in the future. The big final apocalyptic showdown feels rushed as Hal goes from afraid wash-out to complete super hero in a matter of a few minutes.

3D films have recently started to become a unnecessary expense, but the 3D here is well judged and helps show the scale of worlds and Hal flying into action

The movie isn't as good as other origin stories like Batman Begins, Thor and Iron man. Batman films aside DC needs to up their game when it comes to movies as Marvel are giving them a good beating. Ryan Reynolds is a good choice for the role and plays it well, actually being the best thing in this film. Some of the action scenes are good but feel very short and not as big on scale as other comic book films. It's quite funny in places but also very cheesy in others. Director Martin Campbell has previous with Zorro and Bond and made them work as contemporary heroes but just doesn't get it quite right with Green Lantern. It feels like something is missing, maybe it's just a spring board for bigger and better things in the sequel. I would like to see where the story goes in the next film. Whether everyone agrees with me is another matter.