2011 was a good year for Marvel, but the same could not be said toward DC. Instead of presenting a good story that focused well with the characters, this film focused more on presenting a complete CGI world with countless amounts of mindless moments. To me, this was made by a director who loved the comic book and tried to recreate every bit of detail into the story. However, in the end, he presented the Green Lantern universe in a picture book fashion, only introducing the universe and the Lanterns, just to bring in some wows. There is nothing new to the film, following a typical cliché of super hero flicks, and presenting a very bland storyline.
If you like these films, then you won't probably mind everything; on the other hand, if you want a comic book film that focuses on the character, then you'll probably be disappointed. The story didn't had enough power and enough of that entertainment, that many super hero films had in order to grab your attention. The story tends to jump all over the place, not being exactly sure of what story it wanted to tell. Characters don't help boost the entertainment either and fails to tell a simple tale about one of DC's memorable characters. The worst about the story has to be the main character, as you barely see Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, go into action and to actually illustrate his development. You only see him train for a few minutes, then he quits being the hero and changes his mind in the end. There are no signs of portrayal of Hal's progress, only portraying his denials and worries that caused the film to drag and creating a huge gap.
Personally, there were plenty of pointless features displayed in the film. You will not buy the comic relief character and view him as a loose end to the humor. The relationship between Hal and his love interest tends to be everywhere, making it hard to buy their chemistry. The worst had to be the characters themselves; being introduced, but completely being a loose end to the story, playing no important role. Basically, you will not care for any of the characters, especially toward the only 5% who actually mattered. You won't care about the characters, won't care about the chemistry, and will simply not even be impressed with the villains since you have a humanized Brain from "Pinky and the Brain," and a huge yellow cloud that looks like a dust cloud from Pigpenn of "Peanuts." Dr. Hector Hammon, portrayed by Peter Sarsgaard, was definitely not menacing and wasn't even worth to exist in the plot. He actually does nothing that makes him matter and although the yellow cloud does do some damage, it was quite useless as a villain as well. You will not root for the characters, not even for the main character, whom you are supposed to cheer the most.
You will definitely see plenty of these moments that are filled with CGI used for the characters and for the powers of the Green Lantern. The ideas and creativity behind the ring bearer's was quite nice, as you see these characters imagination come to life as they unleash their power. The action, however, cannot be said the same because of how it lacked that creativity and ideals. Some of the abilities that you will see are quite questionable as they cause the film to drag, making no complete sense. One perfect example is this crazy helicopter crash and rather than producing a net, the Green Lantern produces a race car to catch the plane, making a childish and pointless scene that was certainly unneeded. You barely get to see the action and did not develop this high speed action that you would want in a super-hero film. The final battle was especially disappointing, as it lacked that dynamic battle that you wanted; especially since the main antagonist is a fart cloud.
When it comes to the acting, I won't completely blame the actors for their portrayal since most of them were actually good. I still see Ryan Reynolds as "The Flash" and find it a total miscast, but he did good overall. Peter Sarsgaard, despite being a pointless villain, actually was good. Blake Lively was pretty hot and decent as her role; she did the best to keep the romantic factor of the chemistry alive. I was quite surprised with the voice performances by Mark Strong, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Geoffrey Rush to commit the roles of the other ring bearers. Tim Robbins is also in the film, but I find him the most misleading, as he once again plays a character that is not needed.
The complete winner of 2011 of the super-hero genre is definitely Marvel since the only DC movie that came out of the year simply sucked. Having a bland plot, annoying and pointless characters, mindless action, and heavily relying on CGI in order to grant the attention of the audience, simply caused this film to fail. If you do like these types of films, then chances are that you will like it, but others will definitely find this a disappointing entry to the DC universe.
If you like these films, then you won't probably mind everything; on the other hand, if you want a comic book film that focuses on the character, then you'll probably be disappointed. The story didn't had enough power and enough of that entertainment, that many super hero films had in order to grab your attention. The story tends to jump all over the place, not being exactly sure of what story it wanted to tell. Characters don't help boost the entertainment either and fails to tell a simple tale about one of DC's memorable characters. The worst about the story has to be the main character, as you barely see Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, go into action and to actually illustrate his development. You only see him train for a few minutes, then he quits being the hero and changes his mind in the end. There are no signs of portrayal of Hal's progress, only portraying his denials and worries that caused the film to drag and creating a huge gap.
Personally, there were plenty of pointless features displayed in the film. You will not buy the comic relief character and view him as a loose end to the humor. The relationship between Hal and his love interest tends to be everywhere, making it hard to buy their chemistry. The worst had to be the characters themselves; being introduced, but completely being a loose end to the story, playing no important role. Basically, you will not care for any of the characters, especially toward the only 5% who actually mattered. You won't care about the characters, won't care about the chemistry, and will simply not even be impressed with the villains since you have a humanized Brain from "Pinky and the Brain," and a huge yellow cloud that looks like a dust cloud from Pigpenn of "Peanuts." Dr. Hector Hammon, portrayed by Peter Sarsgaard, was definitely not menacing and wasn't even worth to exist in the plot. He actually does nothing that makes him matter and although the yellow cloud does do some damage, it was quite useless as a villain as well. You will not root for the characters, not even for the main character, whom you are supposed to cheer the most.
You will definitely see plenty of these moments that are filled with CGI used for the characters and for the powers of the Green Lantern. The ideas and creativity behind the ring bearer's was quite nice, as you see these characters imagination come to life as they unleash their power. The action, however, cannot be said the same because of how it lacked that creativity and ideals. Some of the abilities that you will see are quite questionable as they cause the film to drag, making no complete sense. One perfect example is this crazy helicopter crash and rather than producing a net, the Green Lantern produces a race car to catch the plane, making a childish and pointless scene that was certainly unneeded. You barely get to see the action and did not develop this high speed action that you would want in a super-hero film. The final battle was especially disappointing, as it lacked that dynamic battle that you wanted; especially since the main antagonist is a fart cloud.
When it comes to the acting, I won't completely blame the actors for their portrayal since most of them were actually good. I still see Ryan Reynolds as "The Flash" and find it a total miscast, but he did good overall. Peter Sarsgaard, despite being a pointless villain, actually was good. Blake Lively was pretty hot and decent as her role; she did the best to keep the romantic factor of the chemistry alive. I was quite surprised with the voice performances by Mark Strong, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Geoffrey Rush to commit the roles of the other ring bearers. Tim Robbins is also in the film, but I find him the most misleading, as he once again plays a character that is not needed.
The complete winner of 2011 of the super-hero genre is definitely Marvel since the only DC movie that came out of the year simply sucked. Having a bland plot, annoying and pointless characters, mindless action, and heavily relying on CGI in order to grant the attention of the audience, simply caused this film to fail. If you do like these types of films, then chances are that you will like it, but others will definitely find this a disappointing entry to the DC universe.