Ileana’s Movie Review: Green Lantern

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong

Summary: The Green Lanterns are an army of intergalactic warriors who serve as protectors of the universe. Hal Jordan (Reynolds) is a fighter pilot who is chosen to be the first human inducted into the Green Lantern Corps. He reluctantly accepts this honor and after a moment of doubt he fully embraces his destiny. Carol Ferris (Lively) is Hal’s lifelong friend and love interest, who sees the good in Hal even when he can’t see it in himself. Every superhero movie needs a villain and this one is named Parallax, an entity of pure evil fueled by the fear it instills in others. In order to defeat Parallax Hal must learn to conquer his fears and believe in his new powers.

Because of my love for Ryan Reynolds I was hoping this movie wouldn’t be a complete disaster, and while it’s not terrible, it’s not that great either. I think Reynolds did a good job with Hal Jordan. He’s charming and endearing and as always is very easy on the eyes. I also think Blake Lively did well with Carol Ferris. She’s sexy but also smart and strong. Although I liked the characters and the visual aspects of the film, the movie as a whole felt a bit mediocre. There are definitely worse superhero movies out there (Ghost Rider anyone?), but since Hollywood has set the bar pretty high for comic- book movies The Green Lantern just doesn’t measure up.

Trivia: Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern uniform is computer-generated to resemble a light construct generated by the lantern ring. Reynolds wore a motion-capture suit, over which the suit was rendered.

Rated: PG-13 – For intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action and some language.

Grade: C