The Green Lantern

my rating: 3.5 out of 5
Imagine a ten year old boy, huddled under a "tent" blanket in his bedroom with a flashlight, reading Green Lantern comics in his pajamas. That was my childhood. I loved Batman, The Green Lantern, X-Men, and a handful of others. Out of the library of comic book characters to make a movie from, I never would have suspected the Green Lantern would be summer blockbuster material. But, as a childhood fan, I was excited to see a high quality movie made.
DC comics has some great characters, but the roster doesn't seem as deep as Marvel comic's list of comic characters. So, maybe that's why DC made a movie about the Green Lantern.

After reading a large bulk of negative reviews, I went from excited geeky man-child, to disappointed movie critic. I was hoping the movie wasn't as bad as all the critics made it sound. So, when I saw the Green Lantern this past weekend as part of a double feature, I was pleasantly thrilled. It far exceeded my expectations and discounted, in my mind, all the critics' negative reviews.

The Green Lantern is full of vibrant visuals, action scenes that whisk you to another world, and lots of "comic book" humor. I loved it. I hate to be judgemental about it, but I wonder how many movie critics sat under blanket tents in their bedrooms and read the Green Lantern with a flashlight. To me, it was a wonderful and accurate interpretation of the original comic book. Ryan Reynolds played a wonderful "Hal Jordan". Cocky, witty, and "hero" looks all fit the bill. They also did a wonderful and thorough job of explaining the origins of the Green Lantern, including the institution of Green Lantern aliens, called 'The Green Lantern Corps". You see, there are aliens in every galaxy entrusted with a Green Lantern. Each alien represents and protects their galaxy. After reading this in the comics, it was fairly surreal and fun to see it realized in a live-action movie.

Many critics scoffed this movie for shallow character development and bad writing. I couldn't disagree more! I thought Hal Jordan had a wonderful character arc. He wrestled with issues from his earlier life, had to cope with big responsibilities despite the fact that he mostly just wanted to party, and in the end he changed. He discovered his true gifts, and gained a new confidence. I thought it was wonderfully done. And, come on, folks, this is The Green Lantern. What were all those critics expecting? It ain't Hamlet, for crying out loud. Don't wait for it on video. See it on the big screen.

I highly recommend The Green Lantern if you like comic book movies. It is much livelier and visually more successful than the placid, dead-in-the-water Green Hornet. I liked it much better than the messy, incoherent Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Some critics were saying it is as bad as Ben Affleck's Daredevil. All lies! The Green Lantern is on par with any other modern comic book adaptation. And, if you disagree with me, I will fight you.

my rating: 3.5 out of 5