Green Lantern

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard
Directed by: Martin Campbell (“Edge of Darkness”)
Written by: Michael Goldenberg (“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”), Greg Berlanti (debut), Michael Green (debut), Marc Guggenheim (debut)
 
How Warner Bros. Pictures thought it would somehow be advantageous to spend $300 million on something as botched up as “Green Lantern” will forever be a comic-book movie mystery. While it might make a considerable amount of dough and reach that summer blockbuster echelon, it would be a surprise if the superhero flick broke even at the box office. Sure, it’s not as terrible as, say, DC Comics’ “Jonah Hex” of last year, but it does give competitor Marvel something to grin about at least until “Captain America” comes calling for justice in a few weeks.
 
In “Green Lantern,” Ryan Reynolds (“Buried”) plays Hal Jordan, a hotshot Air Force test pilot chosen by an intergalactic squadron known as the Green Lantern Corp. to protect the galaxy with a powerful ring that could’ve easily come from a Crackerjack box if only it didn’t possess supernatural capabilities.

In his way is a fallen guardian of the Green Lantern Corp. who has used the power of fear to transform into some kind of menacing storm cloud known as Parallax set to destroy anything in its path. Peter Sarsgaard (“Orphan”) plays xenobiologist (a scientist who studies the biology of extraterrestrial life) Hector Hammond who has been infected by an alien after it crash lands on earth. Blake Lively (“The Town”) pretties up the picture as token love interest Carol Ferris, who isn’t given much to do besides stare deep into Green Lantern’s dreamy eyes and act like a love-struck teenager waiting to be asked to the prom.

Short on excitement and originality, “Green Lantern” is a lackluster way to set up a franchise that might not even get off the ground depending on how audiences react to this unfortunate entry into the superhero genre. Reynolds does his best to give Green Lantern some personality, but the room-full of screenwriters put in charge of the story only created a hollow narrative with $300-million worth of computer-generated effects and little proof of anything enlightening.