Green Lantern -- Movie Review #JPMN

• Green Lantern (2011) -- Mishandles a flashy character with inconsistent results, 5/10. WATCH full episodes of "Movie Night" -- http://bit.ly/JogJPMN TWEET a review with the #JPMN hashtag, and have it featured! ~~ Movie Night Reviews ~~ Your host, and film critic Jonathan Paula reviews everything from opening day releases, recent DVDs, upcoming trailers, and classics from years past. Each "Quick Review" is an excerpt from a full episode, which airs on the Jogwheel channel every week. ~~ Watch More Reviews ~~ Browse By Year ----- http://bit.ly/MNYear Browse By Rating --- http://bit.ly/MNRating Trailer Reviews ------- http://bit.ly/MNTrailers ~~ Other Channels ~~ Jogwheel (Main channel) --- http://bit.ly/Jogwheel Jon's World (2nd channel) -- http://bit.ly/JonWorld The Microwave Show --------- http://bit.ly/TMSArchive uStream Live Shows ---------- http://bit.ly/JogLive ~~ Social Media & Merch ~~ Twitter ---------------------------- http://bit.ly/JonTW Facebook ----------------------- http://bit.ly/JonFBFan Instagram ----------------------- http://bit.ly/JonInsta Patreon -------------------------- http://bit.ly/JonPatreon Letterboxd ---------------------- http://bit.ly/JonLetterboxd T-Shirts -------------------------- http://bit.ly/JogStore ~~ Technical Credits ~~ Created by ------ Jonathan Paula Camera ---------- Panasonic HMC-150 Microphone ----- Sennheiser ME 66 Software --------- Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2014 Computer ------- http://bit.ly/JAV010 • Jogwheel Productions © 2015 • ~~ Truncated Review Script ~~ Full review here: http://letterboxd.com/jonpaula/film/green-lantern/1/ This June 2011 superhero effort from Martin Campbell was a high profile disappointment for DC Comics after the $200 million dollar production only earned $219 million at the box office. The PG-13 rated story opens with a CGI-heavy prologue which unloads an overbearing amount of exposition. Those unfamiliar with the film would be forgiven for assuming it's an animated feature, rather than live-action; the excessive use of overly glossy visual effects is that bad. The handsome Ryan Reynolds stars as an irresponsible fighter pilot who is granted a mysterious alien ring that gives him fantastic abilities, and a place among an intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. I've been a fan of Ryan since his early days on "Two Guys, A Girl, And Pizza Place"... and he's certainly capable here, playing a reckless womanizer who is baffled at his new gifts. But besides a tragic childhood event, we don't learn much about him. He shares a few moments of fleeting chemistry though, with his future off-screen wife, the timelessly beautiful Blake Lively. When the few action sequences do arrive however, they're particularly inventive and generally stimulating - especially a climactic face off against a cloud of evil incarnate that threatens to consume Earth itself. "Green Lantern"'s extended cut opens with a decently emotional chapter involving the tragic death of our protagonist's father - but it never should have been re-included, as a shorter flashback only a few minutes later conveys the same information in a much stronger way. The scene that separates these two redundant sequences is a arrestingly shot and thrilling aerial dogfight that feels like a fun, modern-day twist on "Top Gun" - where Reynolds attempts to out think and out maneuver AI-flown aircraft. When the focus is on Reynolds, the narrative is compelling, and more importantly: relatable - but frequent cutaways to these purple-skinned space police ruin the pacing of the lengthy two-hour film. An over reliance on computer effects sees most of these non-human characters existing decidedly at the bottom of the uncanny valley - making it hard to take any of their dialogue seriously. The actual shooting style of the film works well though, framing our actors in wide two-shots with colorful backgrounds, while the score from James Newton Howard fits the mood appropriately. Much like its central character, this movie has flashes of greatness - that are unfortunately held back by its own shortcomings. The concept and imagery is certainly interesting though, which is why a planned reboot for 2020 might not be a terrible idea. I enjoyed seeing this picture, even if it wasn't anything special. "Green Lantern" mishandles a flashy character with inconsistent results. thought it was ALRIGHT. ~