For the record, before you get worried, Green Lantern is no Phantom Menace which is something to be thankful for.
On the whole I enjoyed it; I'd hoped to come out shrieking with joy but that wasn't to be, but neither was I hanging my head in shame thinking they'd killed a franchise at their first attempt.
There's a lot to cram into this and, in some ways, it felt a little rushed. The opening voice over concerning who the Corps and the Guardians are is handled well, however, and you have to expect a truncated version rather than the decades-long history in the comics.
Reynolds is pretty good as Jordan. Sure he's a little goofy at times but, as he tells the Guardians, he's only human. One review I read made mention of how scared Reynolds's Jordan is despite a Green Lantern being without fear; that reviewer obviously missed the whole "ability to overcome fear" scene with Blake Lively's spot-on Carol Ferris. This Jordan isn't fearless but once he embraces and accepts his fear he's able to act and grow into the role.
Mark Strong's Sinestro is pitch-perfect and make sure you stay for a sort of mid-credits scene which (I really, really hope) is setting up a sequel. Of the other Lanterns, only Abin Sur, Tomar-Re and Kilowog get any face time so we don't get to see much of Jordan's training but again that comes back to cramming so much stuff in.
Of the villains, Peter Sarsgaard almost steals the film as Hector Hammond while the movie Parallax actually comes away with a better origin. While it looks fantastic as a swirling, smokey mass of tentacles crawling over a city, however, it looks a little crappy flying through space for the climactic battle.
And, I have to say, that final battle is a little anti-climactic. It just seems over so quickly; one minute there's a big threat, the next it's done.
On the whole, though, it's pretty good - the effects are stunning and Jordan's ring constructs work beautifully on screen. It's not the best superhero film out there but it's a darn sight better than some and I hope DC learn from both what they did right and wrong and get more and better films featuring their heroes out there. If Marvel Studios can do The Avengers why can't DC do The Justice League?
i thought they did a pretty good job on it too. the look for Paralax wasn't all that great and i though the helicopter crash seen was kinda cheesy but outside of that i don't have any major complaints. Reynolds turned out to be fairly good and i think things worked out ok for Angel Basset as Amanda Waller all things considering. by the way you never did say if you liked or disliked Harley's new costume in the upcoming Suicide Squad series coming in Sept. i did a GL review of my own at www.suicidesquadtaskforcex.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteif you or any one out there is interested.
Cheers, David - as to Harley's costume: it's dreadful. On the one hand Jim Lee complained about Wonder Woman's swimsuit being impractical and then DC puts Harley in an unlaced-up corset thing. Ugh.
ReplyDeletethe new look basically lends it's self to Daryle Hannah's character in Blade Runner. as i explain in my most recent posting on the Suicide Squad blog it works well for hot psycho chicks, nuff said mate.
ReplyDeleteIt's more the double dealing I dislike than the actual costume: why complain about Wonder Woman falling out of her top but then have Harley wearing this new look? I just want some consistency of message, damn it!
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