MOVIE REVIEW - Green Lantern

Ryan Reynolds as a superhero? Is that the road we are going down?

That's the deal here in the yet another comic book come to life and this time it's the Green Lantern. It's another super special effected flick, that tries to explain the origins of the Green Lantern in our world. And how Hal (Reynolds) becomes the protector of the earth. Don't we have enough of this stuff out right now? Evidently not.

But you try to go in with an open mind, a watchful eye, and walking in with low expectation sometimes is a good thing. GL is OK. They makers of this movie in an all out effort to try not to wander too far off the original premise of the story, do remain true. Everything is very carefully explained for the purists. And there is enough computer generated stuff to hold the attention of those who could really care less about the story, and just want to see what special effects can be conjured up next.

I will say that Reynolds holds his own here, but truthfully, there is not a great deal of acting asked of him. Mostly it's jumping around in front of a big screen so the set can be superimposed behind him. Lots of pretend flying that kind of stuff. And there is a big gravy train riding cast of Blake Lively, Tim Robbins, Angela Basset and others do give this flick a bit of cred. The special effects are big, up to the minute in cutting edge and non-stop. A huge level of sophistication for such an old school story.

Being honest, I am not sure how many women will really be interested in this Sci-Fi borderline geek fest. That's what Reynolds, and Lively are for. This story is way too complicated to tell you here in these short notes, but it's OK. Trouble is, all of these superhero movies are really starting to look the same. It's the same formula time after time. Just insert new star here, insert up and coming actress here, big effects here, and a soaring soundtrack here and you're good to go.

But Green Lantern is OK. True, it's Thor, Iron Man, and blah blah all over again, it sort of works. It's not too long, and for the exception of a very slow 15 minutes or so in the middle, and draggy start, Green Lantern is entertaining.

Not great, not really anything that will move you, Green Lantern though is summer fun, and get ready there are many more of these ahead.