The Green Lantern

Superheroes. Nowadays I feel hard pressed to find a movie without them.

In a rapid game of follow-the-leader (and I'm still waiting for someone to tell me who that leader was), movies featuring comic book heroes have been flying off the Hollywood assembly line, and they show no intent of stopping anytime soon. If anything they're speeding up. Rumor has it the executives are doping their film stock with laxatives so it shoots through the camera faster.

The reason is simple, these movies have built-in franchises: i.e. they come with the audience included. That's it. People will see it by virtue of the title alone because they're already fans of the comic/novel/video game/etc. In short, they're pre-heated.

It makes good business sense when you think about it. They save a fortune on advertising, the story already written, it's a proven genre, and if you're smart you can cash in on the merchandising. Yes I'm looking at you, 20th Century Fox; Mr. Lucas is still laughing on his 5000th trip to the bank.*

Does this mean all these superhero movies are a soulless waste of film? Most of them. But as always there are exceptions to the rule, especially if you watch them knowing what they are. The Green Lantern falls into this category. The audience knows exactly what this is and, more impressively, so does the movie.

You know how some movies, when you watch them, feel more like a movie than they should? It's fun, you're enjoying the story and all, but the whole time you are very aware you are watching a film. The Green Lantern goes a step further, and I almost got the feeling that the MOVIE ITSELF knew it was a film. Giving the benefit of the doubt and assuming this was deliberate, it's actually a pretty clever tactic, like a built in disclaimer:

"Yes this is all in good fun. No I will not be exploring character dilemma or human complexities. Ryan Reynolds will now use a power ring given to him by aliens to beat up a mutant death cloud."

It then runs through the superhero checklist.
Tragic parental death (check), hero uses snark as defense mechanism (check), past/current love interest tells hero to grow up (check), power item passed on from it's dying master (check), alien race with purple latex foreheads (check), hero chosen for his "inner strength", which he somehow can't see despite being a top ranking test pilot (check), villain created by experiment gone wrong (double check), more than capable woman reduced to damsel-in-distress when the plot calls for it (check), hero disillusioned after the act two failure (check), hero returns to fight when others tell him to "believe in himself" (sigh, check).

And then there's the villains. One becomes infected with alien DNA, and naturally develops psionic mind powers as a result. Sure telekinesis is in the top five of hero stock powers, but that's because it'd be the most useful to any of us (other than invincibility), and with the right creativity it can still look impressive. Sadly that didn't happen this time. As for the other villain...

Behold the power of cheese! This thing is like the mutant offspring of Unicron and that weird CGI cloud from the House on Haunted Hill remake. I guess it used to be one of the Guardians who tried using the power of fear, screwed up, and in now the physical manifestation of fear itself. So it flies through the galaxy, draining the life force of any who try to stop it, and grips Earth with it's smokey tentacles. And the climax, if you want to call it that, was pretty much the hero trying to beat this thing with the power of will (the ring helped too).

So what did I like about it? For starters the production design is beautiful, what can best be described as "polished retro". They really go out of their way to invoke that silver age comic feel, which is a nice change from the recent trend of gritty realism. The landscape of planet Oa is definitely worthy as a desktop background.

The other thing I enjoyed was the passive-aggressive breaking of the fourth wall. They don't address the audience directly, but they know we're here, know their fanbase, and toss out a few dog treats. For example, Blake Lively's character takes all of five minutes to recognize the hero as her friend, Hal. She points out what fans have been saying for years, that a Zorro mask which covers your eyes and cheekbones does not hide your identity as well as you think. Or when Hal is trying to activate the power ring with a game of guess-my-password and uses "the power of Grayskull" as an attempt. There are several more of these 'easter eggs' which make for a bit of fun so I won't list them all here.

Is it a fun movie? That depends. Am I glad I saw it? Yes. Would I watch it again? Unlikely, but with channel surfing you never know. To be fair I was never really into the Green Lantern comics and don't know much about them. I saw this because I'm a Ryan Reynolds fan and it looked like a moderately fun way to spend a few summer hours. Which is exactly what it is.

The movie has advertisements printed on fast food cups if that tells you anything.



*The studio didn't think Star Wars would be very successful and let George Lucas have all the merchandising rights.