In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan. Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris, if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax... he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

The major flaw with Green Lantern is not entirely its fault but rather the source material it had to draw from. That is the fact that the story and plot of the film are just so comical and ridiculous that you have a hard time being drawn in by the film. I know that comic book movies don’t always have the soundest base in reality but the story for the Green Lantern and an Alien intergalactic policing force that suddenly finds its way to Earth is way over and beyond what you would normally have to accept. That or it could be that they just didn’t pull the comic book storyline off very well but the simple fact of the matter is that the movie fails at times to grab your attention and hold it. It becomes silly and strange and almost like a very bad B movie of the 1970’s with just modern CGI to spruce it up.

The movie just seemed cheesy and I am sure that is not what they were shooting for. Cheesy movies can be fun though and at times Green Lantern was actually kind of fun and entertaining. But since it wasn’t one of those movies that knows it is going to be cheesy and just says forget it and embraces that aspect of its story the movie kind of falls flat a lot of the time. The story is absurd, sure it was pulled from the comic books but that doesn’t make it any less absurd and it wasn’t helped by a CGI team that made everything seem also like a little kids crayon box fell open. The graphics and effects worked at times and at other times failed miserably just like the story. So what you got was a film that was sometimes fun and entertaining to watch and at other times painful and embarrassing.

This was also a film that tried to cash in on the 3d phenomenon and did so horribly. The 3d effects were some of the worst out there and the color scheme just didn’t cry for it to be shown in 3d. Had I had the option to see the film in 2d I would have jumped at the chance as the effects just seemed to be cobbled together to just try and wrestle a few more dollars out of your wallet. Instead of spending time transferring this film to 3d they should have spent more time developing the story, making the film look better and just overall making a better movie.

Ryan Reynolds is perfect for the role of Hal Jordan as he has that cocky almost superhero persona that just fits the genre so well. He was the lone saving grace of the film as he sells the film and lets it rest squarely on his shoulders. The rest of the cast just seems to disappear like much of the rest of the film. From Blake Lively who clearly was just added to the film for a little eye candy and nothing else to Peter Sarsgaard as a creepy villain. Green Lantern was mildly entertaining in a very cheesy way and worth the price of a matinee but nowhere near the overinflated price of 3d which is what they want you to pay to see it.

Grade: C+