The plot is as follows: The Entity of Fear gets loose, and begins to plan, and exact its revenge on the Green Lantern Corps. From there we meet Hal Jordan, and his past with his father, and the rest of his family. We then learn about his badboy esque attitude and how he doesn't do well with authority. He is then thrust into this unknown world when an alien spaceship crash lands in the same location Hal chooses to blow off some steem. The ship contains Abin Sur (who we learn about prior to this, as well as his relationship with Sinestro) who Hal feels obligated to help even though he doesn't even know him. From here Hal gets the ring, and the government takes control of Abin Sur's body. This is when we meet Hector Hammond, and the role he plays for the future of the film. Carol Ferris is also introduced along the way, and I'll get to her later. Trust me. In the end Hal is the only defense for Earth against Paralax who plans on using the Earth to send a message to the galaxy, and the Guardians.
First of all, the acting for the most part is sub-par. Ryan Reynolds did a good job as Hal Jordan, he was actually one of my favorite parts of the film outside of the special effects. I felt like he did a good job capturing the character; even though there was some unecessary humor thrown into the movie. Blake Lively plays Carol Ferris, and I didn't enjoy her in that role at all. She is very flat, and unconvincing. Carol is a very strong, empowered woman in the comic books. This is the woman that is supposed to become Star Saphire, and even though she loves, and cares for Hal she doesn't put up with his crap. I feel that if they try to incorporate Carol Ferris into future films within this franchise they will have to re-cast. Peter Sarsgaard plays Hector Hammond, and he was very creepy at times, whereas other times I felt like he was trying to hard. Plus I didn't really enjoy the addition of Hector Hammond as a secondary enemy within the film either. Mark Strong does deliver an incredible Sinestro, but we hardly ever see him which was disappointing.
Mark Strong as Sinestro
Some of the humor feels great, and I actually laughed, but other times I found myself thinking why is this happening? I wanted to see more of the Green Lantern Corps as well. We see Oa, the home planet of the Green Lantern Corps; but we only see it on a large scale a couple times. Other times we spend time with The Guardians, as they talk, and plan how they are gonna defend Oa amongst themselves and with Sinestro. Which like I said earlier we hardly ever see Sinestro, and when we do he is just talking to somebody. Fanboys know that he was once the greatest Green Lantern of them all, and they even say this in the movie but they do nothing to show it. He spars with Hal one time when Hal first arrives on Oa, and I really enjoyed this scene just wished it was longer. It was good to see Kilowog, Tomar Re, and some of the other Corpsmen come to life on the big screen, but that's about all that you get. They all only have a couple scenes, and you can tell half way through that this is going to be the Hal Jordan show. I didn't mind that so much because that is what I came in expecting. From the trailers they showed, I thought they were going to focus on Oa and the other Lanters a little more than they did.
Green Lantern WonderCon footage
The Special Effects were very eye-popping, and I thoroughly enjoyed those. Seeing the suits, and constructs was a lifelong fanboy dream I have had. I wish there would have been more fighting/action scenes involving the constructs because they were one of the highlights of this film. They could have cut out some unnecessary scenes to make room for longer action sequences, or more scenes on Oa. There are some unneeded comedy bits, as well as a scene involving Hal's brothers that doesn't feels like it belongs in the movie. There are other scenes that feel the same way; out of place, and unwanted. Which is bad, because they make this movie feel too long. The films running time is around a hour and 45 minutes, so you shouldn't be feeling like you have been sitting there for too long. The story takes a while to finally get into the juicy development cycle, and when it does the closing fight sequence seems like it is too short.
The Green Lantern comics have such a rich universe, and multiple stories, and characters that people really care for, and it doesn't feel like the same care was put into this movie. With all of the great stories that Geoff Johns has produced involving Green Lantern I expected something on par, but maybe my hopes were to high? The story starts to feel like it is being dumbed down for the casual audience to understand, and that would be a mistake by the writers if true.
Beware My Power...
I know that it might seem like I didn't enjoy the movie at all, but I did. I just feel like it should have been organized better. Once again, Ryan Reynolds, and Mark Strong were great. As well as all of the scenes on Oa, and the special effects (especially the constructs). The plot could have been better, but I'm sure a lot of people will just say its what they expected from a comic book movie; but with the quality that is being put into other comic book movies these days I expected more. I have seen the movie twice, and I didn't really find myself enjoying it more the second time around, but I didn't dislike it as much as I did the first time I saw it. To be clear, this is a movie that I will most likely purchase on Blu-ray so that I can watch it more, and pick out bits and pieces of things that I missed. Honestly, the special effects make it worth owning for me, but thats just my opinion. My verdict for you all is to wait for it to come out on Blu-ray and watch it then if you're still curious. If you're a hardcore comic fan like me, and have been excited for this movie since it was announced then you have probably already seen it. If you're still on the fence; wait until the Blu-ray comes out, who knows it may have special features or an extended cut that make it a must buy.
One more thing that I forgot is that there is a scene that appears right in the middle of the credits with Sinestro that is quite exciting, and sets up some excellent possibilities for a sequel.
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