Green Lantern (2011)


There is a skeleton in the closet of the DC Cinematic Universe.  That should come as a surprise as so many of the movies they did release over the years were of questionable quality.  There is one, though, that that was such a failure that even the star of it had never seen it in its entirety until just a few years ago.  That is Green Lantern.

Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) is a test pilot for Ferris Aviation.  He followed in his father's footsteps and is haunted by his dad's (Jon Tenney) death in a crash.  His flying partner, and off-and-on romantic interest, is Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), who is set to take over the company from her father.  Hal has a habit of taking too many risks, and one of them ruins the company's chance for a government contract. 

However, Hal's life is about to change.  When a wounded alien (Temuera Morrison) lands on Earth, the ring he carries chooses Hal to take his place.  He soon finds himself part of the Green Lanter Corps, an organization pledged to keep order in the universe.  He is at first rejected by Sinestro (Mark Strong), who heads the organization, but decides to use his powers to protect Earth from an incoming threat from an alien named Parallax who aims to reshape the universe in his image.  Parallax has already taken over Hal's old friend Hector (Peter Sarsgaard) to clear his way for the destruction of Earth.

There is plenty wrong here, which director Martin Campbell blamed on studio interference.  Large swaths of character development were removed as well as parts that bridge different potions of the story.  As a result it feels jumbled and rushed throughout.  Even worse, in an attempt to add some scenes back in, they forgot to take some out, resulting in the entire opening being retold again in a flashback only 15 minutes later.  There really has been no campaign to get Campbell's version release and he and Reynolds didn't get along while filming it, so support from the lead actor is also not forthcoming. 

Even if all of that was fixed there is still the issue of the CGI.  Much of it looks half cooked which is not great when someone, instead of just putting everyone in costumes, decided even the humans needed animated suits.  It's not bad when there are creatures that are already just animations, but the result is Ryan Reynolds and Mark Strong are floating heads bobbing along on pixels.  The blending is done in so poor a manner that it is obvious from the get-go that something is dreadfully wrong.  It's an entire new and unwanted trip into the uncanny valley.  

The story itself isn't horrible, although it is the usual done-to-death origin story with all the tribulations and self-doubt.  The things it does right is have everyone recognize Hal immediately and not make all the other Lanterns look human.  If Campbell's original vision had been allowed to come through the story might be better.  However, it is understandable that at this point Green Lantern was ignored and Man of Steel officially kicked off the DCCU.

Green Lantern (2011)
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong, Peter Sarsgaard
Director: Martin Campbell



 

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