Green Lantern, directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Edge of Darkness) is yet another comic book adaptation released this year, and would, I imagine, score a solid ten on a silliness scale. But then again, it seems to be most self-aware, seeing it unabashedly adresses its absurdities through dialogue. The large proportion of superheroe movies aren’t privy to unconventionality, and this one certainly isn’t any different. It comes to no surprise that it too follows the good-versus-evil mantra we’ve seen ample times before.

The Green Lantern Corps (what should have been called “The Green Ring Corps”)  are a group of humanoid creatures residing on the planet Oa. They are warriors, and each of them are responsible to keep order and peace within their own section of the universe, seeing it has been divided in several (does this imply that the universe is finite?). As the oath says, no evil shall escape their sight. Hal Jordan, played by Ryan Reynolds, is a skilled test pilot with a lot of courage. When one of the Green Lanterns crashes on Earth after being agressed by the exponentially growing Parallax (an evil creature threatening to destroy the universe), the ring chooses a a new bearer for itself. And naturally, its choice is Hal, making him the first human being to ever have become a member of the corps. When the malignant Parallax adumbrates to consume all of Earth’s inhabitants, it’s left to him to cease the evil.

While Ryan Reynolds — who still is just Ryan Reynolds — does a proficient job playing the daredevil Hal Jordan, I found myself to be more interested in certain side characters. One of which being Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard), a scientist with far more interesting complexions than our protagonist (albeit nothing exceptional), who falls under Parallex’ cancerous influence.  However, that’s not to say that there isn’t a warm chemistry between Hal and Carol Ferris, his co-pilot that serves as the essential love interest. She’s portrayed by a surprisngly good actress, Blake Lively.

The film is aided along by some dapper cinemaphotography, and a very Alice-in-Wonderland-esque visualization of the Planet Oa and its inhabitants. Even the hackneyed villian’s physiological appearance renders him somewhat interesting to behold. But as usual, these CGI effects don’t look believable, a reoccuring problem in today’s big budget effect reels.

The 3-D screening is worth viewing. It was enjoyable, even if barely making a difference at certain points in the film, it is at least not bothersome to the eyes or head.

Green Lantern is exactly what you would expect. It’s low on characterisation and more than high on conventionalities. But I assume, if you’re a fan of the franchise (and even if not), you will be entertained by this blockbuster. And that is, after all, what it set out to do (that, and making piles of money).

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