Beginning in December 2005 with my history of apes in film essay “Gorilla of Your Dreams” (the substantially update and revised version appears in The Apes of Wrath), I regularly contributed to Moving Pictures Magazine. First in the print incarnation and then for primarily the website. I contributed reviews and essays for the last three years of the publications existence. Following the June 2011 demise of both the print and website editions, all of the digital work for MPM disappeared into the ether. In the coming months (years?), I plan on reposting many of my reviews and articles.
I noticed that Green Lantern is currently showing on HBO. Let this review serve as warning.
Green Lantern
Reviewed by Rick Klaw
(June 2011)
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Written by: Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Peter Sarsgaard
Over the past decade during an era of unparalleled popularity for comics properties translated to the big screen, DC Comics, home of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and thousands of other characters, managed to produce only one successful character series: Batman. Meanwhile, their arch publishing rival, the Lex Luthor to their Superman, emerged as a financial powerhouse within the movie arena not only with the established—Spiderman, X-Men, and Hulk—but remarkably with the more obscure Iron Man, Daredevil and Thor. After a disastrous Superman relaunch earlier this century and repeated failed attempts at a Wonder Woman feature, Warner Brothers, caretakers of the DC empire, tapped world class action director Martin Campbell, responsible for the two best James Bond installments of the past 20 years, to usher in a franchise based on one of the company’s most popular second tier characters Green Lantern. Sadly, Campbell’s superior skills fail to save Green Lantern from an inane screenplay and a horribly miscast lead.
Granted a green power ring by a dying alien, test pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) joins the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic peacekeeping squadron under the auspices of the Guardians of the Universe. After a group of explorers accidentally release Parallax, a being of living fear, the Corps face their greatest enemy. Eventually Jordan must challenge the Cthulhian horror alone or watch the Earth perish.
While not terrible, Reynolds lacks the gravitas required for this role. An unspeakable terror threatens the planet but Reynolds displays no concern or panic. According to the film and comics, Green Lanterns are fearless but that does not mean they show no worry. Blake Lively as love interest Carol Ferris and Peter Sarsgaard as the villainous Hector Hammond both fail to rise above the muck. Only the understated Mark Strong as Green Lantern Corps “leader” Sinestro delivers anything close to a memorable performance. These failures have less to do with the actors, but with the screenplay itself.
Screenwriters Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg crafted this unnecessarily convoluted and poorly conceived story. Rather than following Jordan as he uncovers the origins of the Lanterns, the movie starts with a voice over revelation of the Green Lantern Corps. The film throughout relies on the sloppy trope of telling rather than showing. Ideally a tale propellant, the action serves as an exciting break to one tedious explanation after another. Not surprisingly within this structure, character motivations lack clarity. The insipid dialogue further muddies things and destroy any hint of emotional resonance.
One clever moment manages to shine through when Jordan attempts to hide his identity from Carol. That brief glimmer of intelligence and art fails to save this doomed script.
The digital effects, savior of many a flawed picture, never rise much above the feel of a good video game. While on Oa, home of the Guardians, I kept looking for my controller. The varied alien Green Lanterns successfully ape their appearances in the comic books but the movie under-utilizes them. The potentially fascinating Jordan mentors Kilowog and Tomar-Re fall prey to the same film fallacies as everything else.
Campbell manages to salvage some exciting action sequences that for the briefest moment, enabled me to enjoy this turkey. But that only lasted until another bit of exposition, or a character displays some random act of stupidity such as talking.
Saving the worst for last, the climatic scene appears straight out of the worst of Japanese Kaiju cinema complete with cheesy monster effects and screaming masses. The only thing missing is the mismatched dubbing and of course the Japanese people.
One of the worst super hero movies of the 21st century, Green Lantern fails as even the basest of entertainments. Whatever else you do this summer, avoid this movie. You’ll be the much happier for it.
*************************************************************************************************
And here’s the Green Lantern movie we all wanted to see: