Green Lantern

I am a huge Green Lantern fan, and as such I wasn't going to do this because to be honest, unless this turned out to be the next Batman and Robin, or *shudder* Ghost Rider, there really was no way I wasn't going to like it. And I was right, I did like it, but I'm apparently the only one. My God the negativity directed toward this movie is off the charts, and I really have no idea why. It seems like it started way back when Ryan Reynolds was announced as the lead. Then things died down, and the first few images of the suit hit the net and it started back up. Same with the trailer, and now finally with the release of the movie. I never expected it to be the next Dark Knight, and it wasn't, but it's a perfectly fun summer movie about a regular guy getting inducted into a group of space cops who wear green, and have fancy rings that can make anything they can imagine. They use said rings to fight evil and stuff.

The movie is probably second only to panel by panel recreations like Sin City and 300 in terms of sticking to the source material. That is to say, this movie is great for those of us who actually read or have read Green Lantern comics. That alone makes it worth watching for those of us who love these characters. I loved seeing Kilowog, Tomar Re, and Sinestro come to life on screen, and immediately began thinking about how awesome Green Lantern 2 was going to be when even more of the Corps would be showing up. G'nort bitches! Could there have been more action, or even more screen time for the GL Corps? Sure, but this is an origin movie, and there were things that had to be established before Hal was off to OA to learn how to use the ring. I feel like the inevitable sequel will be a better movie, following the Iron Man movie formula: first one was good, but a whole lot of origin stuff, second one was great because it jumped right in.

Confession time again, I'm a Ryan Reynolds fan. I think dude is funny, and even like him in the serious roles he occasionally plays. This isn't his first go round in the comic book movie thing either, in Blade Trinity he was a Nightstalker, and consequently the ONLY reason to watch that movie other than Jessica Biel in skin-tight leather pants, and he played a perfect Wade Wilson, and eventually a HORRIBLE Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Would he have been my first pick for Hal Jordan, no probably not, but I didn't think he was terrible. I think he might've been a better Kyle Rayner, but still, didn't hate him. The whole point is, this is a young, cocky, reckless test-pilot Hal Jordan. Aside from "test-pilot" I think most of those do apply to Mr. Reynolds anyway.

The rest of the cast does a fine job, especially Mark Strong who will make you believe that Sinestro is a real guy. He was spot-on in my opinion, and I can't wait to watch him turn into Hal Jordan's greatest nemesis. Peter Sarsgaard is also great as Hector Hammond, I wish they had just stuck with him as the villain for this movie and held the Parallax stuff back for a sequel. In fact that is my one main nitpick, wish more time would've been spent on OA training, and more time would'be been spent on the Hal Jordan/ Hector Hammond/ Carol Ferris relationships. Guess that wouldn't have been impressive enough in 3D though.

I urge anyone with any interest in this movie to not be swayed by all the negativity, give it a watch and make up your own mind. This is nowhere near as bad of a movie as it's being made out to be. It's the very definition of a no-brainer for Green Lantern fans, you should have had your ass in a seat on opening night. For a lesser-known member of the Justice League of America, this is a fine big screen debut, and at the very least it's better than the Thor movie. What a piece of horse shit that was.