The Philippine Online Chronicles

Do you remember Spider-Man 3? Do you remember how it had vapid acting, backstories left unexplained, a focus on an arbitrary amount of plot points, multiple villains, and absurdly pretty special effects which were still very obviously special effects? Green Lantern is the exact same thing, with the added burden of being an origin story.

Green Lantern has a pretty simple concept to grasp, as it’s one of the quintessential space police stories. That said, it’s a comic book story, which always sounds unwittingly hilarious when typed out, so bear with me. Eons ago, the mysterious Guardians of the Universe harnessed the green power of willpower to create their intergalactic law enforcement force known as the Green Lantern Corps, which uses rings to channel the will. The universe is split into 3600 sectors, with each sector the size of a galaxy or so. In the continuity of the movie, each sector is assigned one Green Lantern, a native of that sector. This is how the movie cold opens, with an (in?)appropriately somber voiceover over a flowing montage of spacey elements, like novas and suns, straight out of the Superman movies.

Abin Sur, the Green Lantern in Sector 2814 (that’s where we are!), dying because of an encounter with the fear entity Parallax, crash lands on the nearest inhabited planet so that his ring can choose his successor. That planet happens to be Earth, and Hal “Highball” Jordan turns out to be his successor. Chosen for his ability to overcome fear, he becomes the new Green Lantern in our sector, in charge of policing the galaxy.

That’s the gist of it, anyway, which makes for pretty compelling, and (as much as I hate to use this overused term) epic arcs in the comics. It’s too bad that in this movie, Hal is portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, whose Richard Guttierez face in the trailers was only exacerbated by his one-notch-above-Richard Guttierez acting in the actual movie.

It’s difficult to write about a comics movie without referring to well-established continuity and canon in the stories that the movie is based on, but I’ll try to keep to comparisons to a bare minimum. The members of the Green Lantern Corps are all about using willpower, and this manifests itself in hard-light constructs that draw power from the user’s ring—the only limits being the bearer’s imagination and willpower. The rings also contain a knowledge database and a communication system, all very good, convenient plot devices in movies (and comics). A new power added for the sake of the movie is the ring’s danger warning system, similar to Spider-man's Spider-Sense, except it only works when the plot calls for it and in the most farfetched ways possible, like when Hal Jordan locates a secret military lab with no prior knowledge of its existence.

This is all told to Jordan when he is transported to the fully computer-generated planet Oa, the home base of the Corps, and receives training from veteran Lanterns: Tomar Re, who looks like a fish and is told such by Hal, who shows him he can fly; Kilowog, who looks like a giant pig and teaches him the basics of will-based combat; and Sinestro, the greatest Green Lantern and de facto leader, who uses two swords when Hal uses one, and whispers in Hal’s ear how useless he is because he’s a human and an unworthy replacement for the irreplaceable Abin Sur. So Hal goes back to Earth, tail between his legs.

The rest of the movie is about Hal redeeming himself by fighting the aforementioned Parallax, who by the way is a big, scary cloud, a fallen Guardian of the Universe who was tempted by the power of fear—the antithesis of willpower, represented by the color yellow. Also, he has to battle demons on Earth by way of confronting his traumatic memories of his father’s death, and battling his childhood friend (or enemy? It’s never really explained) Hector Hammond, who has been corrupted by Parallax because he did an autopsy on Abin Sur, who had wounds with residual fear energy in them. All of this sounds convoluted because it is, with these elements needlessly created (or drastically altered from existing comics continuity) for the movie itself, and adds to the great disconnect throughout the movie’s setpieces.

Hal also has to deal with love interest Carol Ferris, played by Blake Lively playing Serena van der Woodsen. Carol is mad at Hal because he is brash and irresponsible. It should be noted, however, that while Carol is not that much different from the prototypical nigh-useless comic book love interest, she does recognize Hal immediately in the costume, exclaiming, “I’ve seen you naked! How could I not recognize you?” or something to that effect, which redeems her character. Almost.

There are other highlights as well. There are plenty of comic book references to please fans (because the meat of the movie certainly won’t) both in the DC universe and out, the best of which involves Marvel’s upcoming superhero movie. The CGI is very, very pretty, showing detailed constructs that give an appropriate green glow. Hal’s costume, which caused a stir due to its being fully computer-generated, is striking, showing the direction and intensity of his constructs, though that form-fitting mask leaves a lot to be desired.

The heavy reliance on CGI takes its toll on the movie, as its artificiality is reinforced during scenes where Ryan Reynolds’s face is the only real thing in the scene—it looks like a disembodied face has been superimposed onto the image, like when Hal flies using the ring for the first time. The aliens are hit-and-miss as well, though again, the individualized costumes are the best touch—the fishlike Tomar Re has shimmering scales on his suit, to give one example.

Perhaps it’s best to see it in 3D if you ever decide to watch this movie, as the CGI is its only saving grace, and many of the ring's constructs are quite visually stunning. Hal’s first major ring creation on Earth, for instance, is his most creative one, and is a treat to see.

Underlying this entire movie is the fact that Ryan Reynolds isn’t very charming or heroic—again, just like Richard Guttierez. His problems don’t seem all that hard to overcome, either; in fact, Hal seems to get out of jams with astonishing ease, never really seeming to be in any danger. It’s very difficult to empathize with this kind of hero, especially if he can think up solutions to his problems with a magic ring. Add that to a running list of dangling plot threads, and the comparison to Spider-Man 3 becomes all the more clear. At least that was the disastrous third act preceded by two excellent foundations; this is an origin story that tries to introduce everything about the universe.

If comic book movies are designed to make people read the source material, increasing readership, then Green Lantern succeeds, because after watching this, people will want to know just what the hell is going on in this movie, especially after the scene that runs in between the credits. Then again, you’re better off just skipping straight to the comics, and watching the trailers on YouTube in HD to see the pretty colors.

Green Lantern is © Warner Bros. Images here are under fair use.