about Maverick 管家仔囉哩叭唆

Directed by: Martin Campbell
Cast: Ryan Reynolds (Hal Jordan/Green Lantern), Blake Lively (Carol Ferris), Peter Sarsgaard (Hector Hammond), Mark Strong (Sinestro), Temuera Morrison (Abin Sur)

Given the success Marvel were having with their “second tier” characters on the big screen (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor... etc.) and their own box office breaking success with The Dark Knight, it’s no surprise DC had been eyeing up a piece of the B-list pie for years, settling on intergalactic copper Hal Jordan, aka Green Lantern, as its first subject.

Green Lantern is perfect comic book material, the mental constructs key to the Lantern’s abilities limited only by the writers/artists imaginations. Unfortunately, on the big screen the Lanterns are also limited by their budget and Hollywood’s “play it safe” approach to tentpoles, which is why we got a big nebulous cloud baddie, a slightly iffy CG suit and Generic Superhero Plot C.

Green Lantern’s failings have been covered to a (much) greater degree elsewhere, but it’s worth pointing out the film isn’t bottom of this list for a reason. Ryan Reynolds is a charismatic lead, even if the writers have turned down the humour a notch from what you might expect; the effects – for the most part – are stunning (particularly Oa, the Lanterns’ homeworld); and Martin Campbell knows how to shoot a decent action sequence, even if nothing comes close to his work on Casino Royale. It’s not as bad as you might have heard, but if there’s ever a sequel (and we hope there is) drawing boards will be an essential part of the process.