Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Green Lantern



Yet another superhero film comes off the Hollywood production line and it's an acceptable piece of escapism and a chance for Ryan Reynolds to show off in more ways than one.
Green Lantern is not up there with your Spider-Mans, Supermans, Batmans, X-Men or Avengers flicks but it does entertain.
We meet the Lanterns on the planet Oa and discover that they are battling a force fuelled by fear, Parallax, and have just lost several Lanterns in the fight. One, Abin Sur, is mortally wounded and releases the ring to choose a successor to carry on the fight.
The ring chooses fighter pilot Hal Jordan (Reynolds), a man whose best attribute is his ability to walk away when things get tough. Yep, he's the perfect anti-hero who is actually a real hero underneath - he just hasn't discovered it yet.
Abin Sur is discovered by the government and his body is taken away to be studied. Scientist Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard) is chosen to examine the alien and he becomes infected with a secondary piece of the alien's DNA and he becomes Parallax's man on earth who must rid the planet of the Lantern in order for Parallax to consume it.
Blake Lively plays the obligatory love interest, Carol Ferris, and she does get one of the better lines in the film. When she realises that Hal is the Green Lantern that saved her and he tries to deny it she says - ''I've known you since I was 11, I've seen you naked, do you really think that because the mask hides your cheekbones I wouldn't know it is you!'. Great call and an obvious nod to the Superman story.

Green Lantern relies a lot on CGI, which is pretty impressive on the whole, and the charm of Ryan Reynolds. It's a bit cheesy but overall it is good harmless fun.
Beware that there is an extra scene after the first half of the credits. A 7 out of 10.

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