As J.R.R. Tolkien might have said, this film is not a good one nor a bad one rather it is from Middle Earth.  As far as superhero films go it is not as good as Thor or X-Men: First Class, but not as bad as Daredevil or Catwoman (I pick on that film a lot, don’t I?).  Mostly the film is saved by the likeability factor of Ryan Reynolds and the superb special effects.  If that sounds like reason enough to watch the film then go ahead, I say.

Before Earth was even formed The Guardians of the Universe used a green substance to create a special task force called the Green Lanterns Corps.  The universe was then divided into different sectors with one Green Lantern, who wear a green ring with magical powers, assigned to each sector.  An imprisoned fear-essence (yellow stuff) possessor named Parallex (Clancy Brown – The Shawshank Redemption, Highlander) escapes and injures Green Lantern Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison – Once Were Warriors, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones), who manages to escape and crash land on Earth.  Before he dies he commands his ring to find a worthy successor.

Cocky aircraft test pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds – The Proposal, Buried) is who the ring selects and brings him to the crash site.  There Abin Sur names Jordan a Green Lantern.  After seeing the power it gives him later that evening when he is attacked at a bar and is able to ward the attackers off with his incredible strength, Jordan is a believer.  He is then taken to the Green Lantern planet of Oa.  There he begins his training under Tomar-Re (Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech, Shine) and Kilowog (Michael Clarke Duncan – The Green Mile, Sin City).  The Corps leader, Sinestro (Mark Strong – Sherlock Holmes, Body of Lies), is not happy that an inferior human has become a Green Lantern.  Under pressure from Sinestro, Jordan quits and returns to Earth, but keeps the ring.

Scientist Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard – Jarhead, Boys Don’t Cry), son of Senator Robert Hammond (Tim Robbins – Field of Dreams, Mystic River), performs an autopsy on the body of Abin Sur.  Inside is a piece of Parallex and it attaches itself to Hector’s.  After this he gains the ability of telepathy and has telekinetic powers, but goes insane as a result.  He attempts to kill his father using his telepathic powers.  He is foiled in this end by Jordan, who uses the ring.  Jordan and Hector realize that Parallex is on his way to Earth.  Jordan has to really become a Green Lantern if he wants to save Earth from the destruction that Parallex plans to wreak upon it.

Part of the problem with the film is that it tries to stuff too much of the comic book content in.  Bravo for staying true to the original story, but a boo for trying to shove everything in.  It becomes overwhelming at times with too much information coming at you all at once and no focus to the story.  Plus there are many supporting characters with stories of their own that are not fleshed out and as such it’s frustrating.

Maybe what the fans did not like was the goofiness of it.  Do we really need all our superheroes to be dark and pensive like Batman or beyond heroic like Superman?  Is there really no room for different sorts of superheroes?  Ryan Reynolds, who does a good job with the witty aspect of the character, has the body of a superhero and the disposition of a frat guy.  I don’t see the problem.  No angst and not too much seriousness to be found here.

Weirdly enough, the film seems a little rushed in the ending.  Like director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro) desperately wanted to keep the film under two hours and just crammed everything in.  Rushing is never a smart thing to do as the ending is the last thing that filmgoers see and inevitably what makes the biggest impression on them.

Special Features:

-Theatrical Feature & Extended Cut Films
- Maximum Movie Mode with PiP
- Ryan Reynolds Becomes Green Lantern
- Universe According to Green Lantern
- WBA Green Lantern Animated Series Promotion
- Digital Enhanced new Justice League book #1
- Deleted Scenes