Green Lantern (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) [2011][Region Free]

This really is not a bad film. After the amount of bashing this film got by the critics in the days before the film release i went in with very low expectations expecting one of the worst comic book film adaptions ever. To tell you this was an amazing film would be a lie but ryan reynolds is likable as Hal Jordon, and some of the sepcial effects are awesome. Some great action set pieces and decent humour. What more can you ask for from a super hero movie. This is no Iron Man but its decent for what it is. Do not let critics form your opinion of this film. The fact that transformers 3 made more money than this is a travesty. This is not the worst film of the summer and deserves more credit than it got.

Don't believe the anti-hype: it's the domino effect of criticism, one reviewer follows another until nobody feels free to have an original opinion about a movie. Green Lantern is a thoroughly enjoyable summer blockbuster; it has its flaws, but nobody should be going in expecting a tight Shakespearean plot with tragic irony and profound soliloquies. The script is more than serviceable, the acting far better than the likes of Transformers or Thor, and the plight of the central character one that we can all relate to. Give this movie a chance. It will surprise you.

There are just so many bad things in this film, it's hard to know where to start. I suppose listing the good things in it will get that out of the way:
> The big bad enemy is pretty cool.
> The aliens are nicely designed.
That's it.
I'm not saying the CG is good, it isn't - but it doesn't stop the designs from being good, and considering how little screen time they actually get it's amazing the film cost so much to make. The terrible new green lanturn suit that they're wearing? That's where the money was (to quote another reviewer) "p*ssed away"; I don't know exactly how they managed to rack up such a big bill with the suit when amateur productions posted on youtube have done it better for almost nothing, but they managed it. And yes, I am aware that the suit may not be the sticking point for many people - but if they cut costs by making an actual suit (which by todays standarts sounds like an oxymoron) they could have pumped that money somewhere more important. And yes, they do make a huge, glaring reference to the eyewear and that it wouldn't make him instantly unrecognisable - and no, it isn't funny, clever, or ironic for being meta.

Aside from the suit, the person in it is incredibly unsuited for the role. While originally I hated Thor for the character, upon a second watching I actually thought he wasn't bad. As Ryan Reynolds has been good in other films, and the director greenlighting decisions - this is where the blame must lie. At many stages in the film I had to remind myself that this wasn't a comedy - that he was supposed to be playing Geen Lanturn, and not some zoolander-esuqe mockery of it. The henchman-badguy actually may have had a fairly decent story behind it, which unfortunatly wasn't included, leaving those without prior comic knowledge (if it's in the comics at all) completly in the dark as to why he suddenly decides to turn evil the second he gets powers - aside from the fact that he isn't living up to societys expectations of what a good citizen should be (in this case a video-game playing shutin), yet manages to get fabulous opportunities.
In fact, a lot of story seems cut out; and if they had removed a lot of unessasary moping back on Earth it could have been put in. The reactions to the Green Lanturn being 'revealed' on Earth are fairly downplayed - everyone just seems to accept that superheroes now exist and are cool with that.

There seems to be a fair amount of foreshadowing; using light and colour on specific characters scenes, and while in most films when this is done, it's done in a fairly subtle way that passes by unnoticed by most observers, yet for this film it felt as if they hadn't tried to make it the slightest bit subtle.

//SPOILER WARNING\\ (not that I feel it deserves one, but there may be some die-hard fans of films who haven't seen it yet.

There are supposed to be a few thousand green lanturns (this I did not know until watching the film - perhaps showing my ignorance, but I have been as ignorant of other superhero films that have been done so much better) and nonw of them thought to try killing the thing with a star? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that every organism dies if exposed to fire, explosions or too much heat. They had a number of aliens who were immortal - and they didn't know this? Maybe this is something from a comic, rather than a 'fanfiction' episode made for films, but I mean come on - do they actually believe audiences are that stupid?

All in all, it's a good film to watch if there is absolutly nothing else on, but I'm glad it wasn't my £3.15 that was spent on the blinkbox download - I certainly wont be buying it when it reaches the bargin bin. The only time I would recommend getting this would be if you were Hal Jordan and needed a present for a distant relative who you weren't likely to see in awhile, and needed something fast. I would normally have considered this a family friendly film - and it came so close to being that, but the amount of swearing manages to tip it away from that.