Movies / Comics Movie Reviews

The Green Lantern Movie

By Beth Davies-Stofka
June 20, 2011 - 13:27

Years of teaching philosophy have taught me that students place a lot of value on free will. They are convinced, in fact, that they actually possess such a thing. We all are. To us, it’s a fundamental part of being human. To the Guardians of the Universe, will is the strongest force of all.

Will does need to be regarded as a force. I think the Guardians nailed that. Will is the force that takes a creature from idea to action. It is the force that translates a desire to a physical reality. It’s the only way anyone ever gets from point A to point B.

But is will actually free? Honestly, I have a hard time understanding those who say it’s not. I’d say we’re all pretty self-directed. Some people face constraints such as manipulation or coercion, but absent those conditions, I think we enjoy a remarkable amount of freedom to act in the world.

Then there are the Green Lanterns. They have these rings that let them alter the existing arrangement of energy particles to make whatever they will. The will of a Green Lantern is free and strong for sure. That’s how they get chosen (along with their honesty). But the rings liberate that will in ways most of us can only imagine.  

And that's the rub. Will isn't as important as you might think. Imagination is the real key for a Green Lantern. Equipped with a rechargeable ring, a Green Lantern can focus his or her will to accomplish anything s/he can imagine. So there are certain limits to a Green Lantern’s supercharged abilities. A Green Lantern is constrained by the quality of his or her imagination.

And just as a Green Lantern is limited by his or her imagination, so inevitably is a movie about the Green Lantern. This is the whole problem with the new Green Lantern movie. Those rings have so much potential, but the imaginations that made this movie were just too small to realize it.  

There is way too little action. If Hal Jordan is in uniform, in outer space, or on Oa, or even on Earth, the movie is fun, but you still can’t help wondering, “Is that all you’ve got?” Sometimes other characters ask him the same thing! Rule for writers: When your own characters are asking you what's wrong, you probably ought to revisit your script.



When Jordan is just being Jordan, the film gets boring.  

It’s also hard to say who this movie was made for. The story is good for little kids. It’s about how everyone feels fear, and that’s okay. It’s about how courage is a wonderful thing. It shows how special things can happen when we summon the courage we need to confront our fears.

But the banter is better for the teen dating crowd. So in the end this plays like a G-movie with PG-dialogue.

I think comic book fans will enjoy it. Ryan Reynolds is good as Hal Jordan. I was afraid he would seem too young, but he supplied a good mix of youthful exuberance and self-doubt, even when he had to deliver the corniest lines in the galaxies.

Mark Strong is Sinestro. It’s crazy how much he is Sinestro.  

Blake Lively plays a great Carol Ferris. She is smart and strong, and I mean really strong. She pushes away the man she loves because she knows he’ll do nothing but cause her grief. We need more role models like that. 

The space sequences are beautiful, and when there is some action, it’s exciting.

And the colors are absolutely beautiful. The color spectrum is the foundation of the Green Lantern story, and in this respect, this movie does not disappoint us in the least.  

The Green Lantern “suit” is the best superhero movie suit to date, by a long shot.

I know some fans will regret the inevitable changes to the story in the books. It’s hard to do something in an hour and 45 minutes that is entirely faithful to the stories we’ve followed for years. But if you’re not a purist, you won’t care. You’ll just leave looking forward to Green Lantern 2, knowing that the greens and yellows will be just as intense.

I think we all hope that in future sequels, we’ll see less of Earth and more of the Corps, and a significantly more creative Hal Jordan. I suspect that many long-time Green Lantern fans have imagined in great detail what they would do with a ring like that. Hopefully the writers will put a little time into that as well, before shooting on Green Lantern 2 begins.

Rating: 8 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12