Movie Musings: Green Lantern

(Alternate title- Green Eggs and Hal)

The old adage goes, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

Never before has a phrase been so loaded as the attempt to put ANY comic book film into words. I think I’ve been holding off on reviews, thus far, in this approaching Summer of the Comic Book Geek for a sole reason; this one is the one I feared the most in terms of its success. It was every comic book geek’s personal parallax…would this film be as terrible as we feared?

Truth is, it’s not. Like mentioned, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. I won’t deny that some diehard Greenheads will gnash their teeth and wail at the interpretations of their favorite hero’s Origin Story. But seriously, folks. When you’ve got 60+ years of backstory, four different faces to the titular hero, and more deaths and plot rewrites than a season of HEROES you have got to cut the creative team a little slack!

For anyone under a rock the past decade, Green Lantern is a glorified space cop. Reckless, brash young air force pilot accidentally finds himself granted the responsibility and duties of a dying alien, who passes him a magical artifact and the duties of an intergalactic officer. Their power is channeled through a ring, shaped like the mystical symbol for the essence it represents: Willpower. Through their own determination, a Green Lantern has the ability to overcome fear and protect the galaxy from evil.

Being the first human to be saddled with this task, Hal Jordan is not the ideal candidate at first; but like all Origin Movies, he must undergo a troubled love, daddy issues, and former-colleague-turned-villain spars to Battle a threat so big an army of omnipotent guardians of our universe cannot stop it.

Yes, there are clichés to be met in an Origin film. Yes, “Green Lantern” runs through the checklist AND gets bonus points for alien Lantern cameos, Ominous Sequel Forshadowing, and even Quiet Comments on the Actual Origin While Rewriting To Simplify For Unknowing Audiences. But they’ve nailed Sinestro, Kiliwog, and Jordan himself. This casual fan is pleased and then some. You may not know them inside and out after this film but you’re not lost by the end of it. Each character is properly fleshed out for a 2-hour Summer Popcorn Sitdown.

So. Marvel fans? stop pretending you hate him more than Aquaman--- and give a DC hero other than Batman a try. Hal-Heads? Yes it’s not the same Parallax you spent years of comic book funds coming to know. Grow up.

Both of you groups. Shut up and enjoy a well-made film so that this Comic Book Franchise can keep us geeks entertained and respected. It’s pleasantly executed and hits all the right spots to do what a comic book movie needs to do.

Four out of Five green constructs.