Directed by: Martin Campbell Written by: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, and Michael Goldberg. Based on the DC Comics: Green Lantern
Premise: Test pilot Hal Jordan gets kidnapped by a mysterious light which takes him to the side of a dying alien. Abin Sur informs Hal that he has been chosen as his replacement in the Green Lantern Corps.
Review: I've been familiar with Green Lantern for a long time, having been a comic geek for most of my life. While Green Lantern was not one of my main reads, I ran into him from time to time so all the names, locations, and things were very familiar. Not being too close is good otherwise I might be tempted to pick it apart as a purist. :) But even so I did notice some changes. Not that they weren't good changes, mind you! Several of them actually gave more depth to the whole mythology in my opinion.
The Guardians and the planet Oa were awesome! Totally loved where they went with the look and feel of the place. I totally loved that a lot of the attitudes against humans that showed up in the series was preserved here. The travel gateway for the Lanterns was also pretty cool. Basically all the space stuff was great!
I very much liked the explanations of the Green Lantern suit. Gave it a big SF boost. I also liked the new rendition of the Lantern itself - looking more alien and fluid looking. They also gave the power of the lanterns a meaning - Will. In the comics yellow was a color the GLs had no power over. Here it isn't the color itself but the power the color represents, which is Fear. In the film they are toted as opposites rather than something it had no effect against. But overall worked well.
Loved Ryan Reynolds as GL. He really lent a lot of feeling and even comedy to the role. Hal's switch to truly embrace his destiny wasn't as good it should have been (too quick and sudden) but Reynolds did what he could with it. The love interest got some actual background and personality, which was great.
The one thing they did that I utterly loved was keeping the imaginative ways to use the power of the ring I'd always seen in the comics. I always felt it was that spark of kid like imagination that made Hal Jordan so capable as a GL. Wish they could have done more, but what they had was great!
Overall, it was visually outstanding, the plot decent, the characters fleshed out pretty well. Make sure to sit through the credits! There's just a bit more. And something that fans of the series will have been looking for. Only thing I didn't like about that was that even though I knew it was coming, there was not enough there to show/support why it happened. Because as things had been left, there was no reason for it. You'll see what I'm talking about when you see the film. :P
Rating: A strong 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth full price of Admission)
