RBR: Green Lantern

A lot of the media is celebrating 'Green Week' this week, so it's only apprpos that I review Green Lantern. This is the last of the comic book movies from this summer that I wanted to see and was also easily the worst. This suffers from several of the characteristics common in bad comic book movies. First and foremost is the percentage of time spent on exposition. There is scene after scene involving narration or a monologue trying to cover the dense, yet uninteresting backstory to the group of superheroes known as the Green Lantern Corps. When we finally do get to the action, none of it is compelling, especially given the ease with which our hero, Hal Jordan (played by Ryan Reynolds) disposes of the threats even though we're told that it is a force that the rest of the Corps cannot defeat collectively. Given that director Martin Campbell did such a terrific job of reintroducing the James Bond character in Casino Royale, I certainly expected more here. However, this is a very poorly lit film that fails to make us care about any of the characters. The cast is comprised of a number of likable actors, but they are either not given enough time (Tim Robbins and Angela Bassett) or not given decent material to work with (Reynolds, Blake Lively, and Peter Skarsgaard). The film's ending leaves open the possibility for a sequel, but there was nothing here that enticed me to see another entry in this series. I'm not even sure Green Lantern's ring could produce a script that could turn this series into something entertaining. Rating: ** 1/2