Sonic Cinema

Sounds, Visions and Insights by Brian Skutle

Green Lantern (Review by Heather Elle)

Grade : C+ Year : 2011 Director : Martin Campbell Running Time : 1hr 54min Genre : , , ,
Movie review score
C+

“Green Lantern” is a mixed bag of Awesome and Awful. I arrived at my grade of C+ because C is the average of A and F, and it gets the + from the A+ it might have earned for all its Awesome if not for the big fat F it earns for all its Awful.

First, the Awful… The most awful of all: Peter Sarsgaard. Overacting at its best… or worst– however you want to look at it.

Sarsgaard plays Dr. Hector Hammond, a wimpy scientist and science teacher with a massive chip on his shoulder. Hector is the son of uber-charismatic Senator Robert Hammond (played by Tim Robbins, who in this role actually looks younger than Sarsgaard, but I’ll suspend disbelief on this one; there are worse things that are much harder to overlook). The filmmakers beat every obvious point to death in this movie, not the least of which is that Hector is the lifelong “victim” of his successful father’s success(?) and of Hal Jordan’s (Ryan Reynolds) um… hotness(?). It’s not really clear how either the senator or Hal ever truly wronged Hector, but Hector is just that kind of loser, I guess– he is one to blame everyone else for his failures. Sarsgaard plays Hector extremely over-the-top, even long before it is called for. The first time we see Hector on-screen, it seems that Sarsgaard is attempting a really bad Woody Allen impression or something. The next time we see him, it seems that Sarsgaard thought he was in a play and had to exaggerate like stage actors do. Eventually, the overacting actually becomes somewhat appropriate for the character, as he transforms into a super-villain, but by then one is already completely sick of Hector… and Sarsgaard. He is not a character one would “love to hate.” He is a character that I, for one, hate to hate… because it is tedious. To make matters worse, it seems they blew the budget on all the big special effects and had nothing left in the budget for Sarsgaard’s makeup; I have seen more believable bald-caps on amateur Halloween costumes. (I saw him in a clip on television before seeing the movie. The bad makeup is not as obvious on the small screen as it is on the big screen.)

Less awful but still awful: Blake Lively’s emoting.

Blake Lively plays Carol Ferris, a test pilot (codename: Sapphire) who has known both Hal and Hector most of her life. Carol is the daughter of aerospace mogul Carl Ferris, and she is Vice President of Ferris Aircraft. (Nepotism much?) Lively is basically serviceable in the role. She has no standout moments that can be attributed to her acting chops (or lack thereof). Her only standout moment (for me) is entirely attributed to the character’s line: something about “courage.” See? The line itself did not even grab me enough to quote it here; I forgot the line, but I remember liking it and that it was about courage. Where Lively contributes most to the Awful is in her inability to emote. She is an okay enough actress until she needs to show emotion, and then it just becomes uncomfortable to watch. Thankfully, there are only a handful of moments like this… but enough to be kind of annoying.

Laughably awful: We get it! We get it! Fear is bad. Don’t be afraid. Overcome your fear. If I had a nickel for every time the word “fear” or “afraid” was used in this movie, I could have paid for a ticket to the overpriced 3D show (instead of 2D) and my $5 Cherry Coke… plus candy. (I don’t like popcorn.) The makers of “Green Lantern” have probably never heard the word “subtlety” in their lives… let alone the definition.

As promised, there is also the Awesome… The obligatory kind of awesome: Stunning Visual Effects.

This movie is absolutely beautiful to look at. The colors are fantastically vibrant, and the artistry is simply undeniable. The Green Lantern mythology requires that the filmmakers create an entire other world and make that world believable, even with a human (Reynolds as Green Lantern) amidst fish-faced and gnarly gorilla-like alien beings. It would be easy for something like this to look like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” but it doesn’t. Just trust me: The visuals do not disappoint.

The most Awesome of all: Ryan Reynolds.

In case you’ve been under a rock (and/or missed my previous references), Ryan Reynolds plays Hal Jordan, a seemingly fearless test pilot (codename: Highball) who becomes Green Lantern. The entire mythology behind Green Lantern is incredibly convoluted, but it works. Pay attention, and you’ll be fine. Reynolds is absolutely charming to say the least; he makes what could have been a rather unlikable character quite affable. Of course, it helps that Hal Jordan is a truly dynamic character, so he is given the opportunity for redemption, although Reynolds almost makes Jordan’s redemption completely unnecessary by being so gosh-darn charming! Reynolds is a solid actor with a good range of believable emotion and action, but I have always most appreciated his comic timing, which is utilized reasonably well in “Green Lantern.” The jokes might be easy ones (obvious even), but Reynolds sells them. For that matter, Reynolds sells the whole package: He is a believable flawed human as well as a believable courageous superhero… and that is just scratching the surface. Reynolds alone gives me reason to look forward to the inevitable sequel.

If you are looking for an original superhero movie, this is not it. So much of the story (and dialogue) is predictable and hackneyed, but the world in which it partly takes place is truly something special. I could not even begin to attempt to describe the convoluted mythology of the Green Lantern character or the world from which his powers are derived, but I don’t think that’s necessary. If you are interested in seeing this movie, you should. But I cannot say with any honesty that this is a “good” movie. I would happily see it again myself, but I will not go out of my way to do so. There is so much that makes it worth my while, but there is just as much that makes my eyes hurt when they roll too far back into my head.

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