Entertainment: Green Lantern Review

NOTE: There are no spoilers in this review. If you haven't seen it, don't be afraid to read on!
 
I had the fortune yesterday of taking in a advance screening of Green Lantern two days before it's official release tomorrow.

I have to say, that with my fanboy tendencies towards this character, and the Green Lantern Corps in general, I counted myself as one of those who needed to be awed. And I was. Mostly.

The screening I saw was in 3D, and while it wowed me in a lot of ways, in others, not so much. That being said, unlike a movie like Avatar, I don't think that Green Lantern was designed for 3D, and as a result, some visual effects fall short. I'll be taking the flick in again in a week or so in the good, old 2D, and I'm predicting that the few things I didn't like before will end up blowing me away.

Yeah, I know a few things
about Green Lantern.

Staying true to the source material, the story follows the general comic book origin story, where a cocky test pilot is given a green power ring from a dying purple alien, who crash landed not too far from where said cocky test pilot happens to be. That was no spoiler, that's just general knowledge. The only way you wouldn't know that bit, is if you lived under a rock. You don't live under a rock, do you?

The next little while follows Hal Jordan, the first human to be inducted into the Green Lantern Corps, and his training to use the awesome power he now wields.

Ryan Reynolds was perfect for the role of Hal Jordan, due to his own natural wit and cockiness that meshes perfectly with the character. Peter Sarsgaard and Mark Strong also are wonderfully cast in the roles of Hector Hammond and Sinestro, respectively. All in all, the whole film was cast to perfection. I had my druthers going into this with Blake Lively as Carol Ferris, but she pulled if off nicely, and yes, I spent a fair bit of time imagining her in the tight, skimpy, pink Star Sapphire suit.

A Gatling gun made out of light? Awesome.

There were a few divergences from the source material, but nothing that would make this fanboy jump up and cry fail. But the trouble is, with movies like this, you're never going to please everybody, but you can do an honest, and entertaining piece of film making that hopefully a lot of people will like. Director Martin Campbell has done a beautiful job balancing this tightrope, and made a highly entertaining flick that will hopefully open the doors to more of DC Comics' properties in the future.

Ultimately, I give Green Lantern a 4/5 power rings.