However, to quote a Marvel classic, “with great power comes great responsibility.”
Three excellent Marvel Comics movies have been released in Australia this year; Thor, X-Men: First Class and Captain America.
Still riding on the success of the Batman franchise, and with a new Superman film in development, rival house, DC Comics have only one film adaptation this year, Green Lantern.
And, phew! It doesn’t suck. Green Lantern fans, protective of the franchise, were always going to worry that the film adaptation would stray too far from the original premise, or that the film itself was just going to be terrible.
As an adaptation, the film explains the premise fairly well. When Earth was just a twinkle in the eye of the universe, a group of immortal beings, called the Guardians, used the power of will to form an intergalactic security force called the Green Lantern Corps. 3600 sectors of the universe were each protected by their own Green Lantern.
Each Green Lantern has a ring of power, which alerts and protects them, and allows them to turn their very thoughts into reality. Green Lanterns are a special breed, not made, as such, but chosen by the rings because they are beings without fear.
When a being made of fear, Parallax, escapes from its prison, the Green Lantern who imprisoned it, is attacked and mortally wounded. Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison) crash-lands on Earth to find a worthy successor.
The ring chooses Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), a devil-may-care fighter pilot who has very likely just made the worst mistake of his career. The ring transports Hal to the dying Abin Sur, who explains that the ring has selected Hal as his successor, and that Hal must take an oath and become a Green Lantern.
As a film, Green Lantern runs into some issues. The script is seriously lacklustre. A Green Lantern’s greatest defence is the ability to create anything from imagination and the film fails to capitalise on this.
Director, Martin Campbell, who had so much cinematic fun with the tank scene in Goldeneye and the fight scenes in Mask of Zorro seems constrained here and it feels like there were scenes missing, particularly from Hal’s first visit to the Green Lanterns’ base planet, Oa.
Ryan Reynolds, who is a capable hero, barely flexes his comedic muscle (even if he flexes every other!) and this too feels like an opportunity lost.
With up to six writers credited for the script, there’s a hint of serious rewrites, and possibly studio intervention here. And that’s frustrating, because the film really does have a lot of potential to explore facets of humanity like fear, willpower, heroism, strength and intelligence.
Peter Sarsgaard’s character, Hector Hammond, is an interesting study in repression and megalomania, but even this is only touched on briefly. Sarsgaard’s performance is also noteworthy for being, at times, disconcertingly maniacal – the man can scream chills down your spine.
Mark Strong as Green Lanterns’ leader, Sinestro, turns in a good performance, along with Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan as Hal’s mentors on Oa, again, these very strong actors feel underused.
Green Lantern is a film that has just fallen short of the mark. Overall, the idea of harnessing willpower to do good, is a sound one. As is the suggestion that fear should not be ignored or mocked, but acknowledged and overcome through will.
After watching the latest news about the riots in London and ongoing human conflict, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that, as humans, we can do better.
