Movie Review: Green Lantern (2011)

“The ring has chosen. Speak the oath.” As “Green Lantern” begins, these words are the audience’s first introduction to a mythical energy that apparently gives the user nearly unlimited power and drives much of the movie’s plot. These powers are not locked safely away, however, but, as is typical in fiction, thrust upon an ordinary human.

Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), a flippant and cocky test pilot for a multi-national military armament manufacturer, is confronted with a choice. His choice is to accept the responsibility thrust upon him in the form of a ring by a purple alien who crashed-landed on Earth or to go on with his current occupation crashing $50 million experimental aircraft.

Hal takes the ring and becomes, in true superhero movie form, the newest member of an order of protectors who have been tasked with keeping peace in the galaxy. These protectors gain their power from this ring, forged with the power of emerald energy, which is the energy of the collective will of all creatures. This ring amplifies the wearer’s will, and gives them the ability to create anything they can dream of, in essence, turning thought into reality. The only limit to this power is the wearer’s will.
The consequences of Hal’s choice go deeper than just becoming a superhero, though. He is transported to the fortress planet of the order of the Green Lanterns and confronted by another Lantern who is convinced that Hal does not have what it takes to be a true Lantern.

In typical superhero fashion, Hal has to prove to himself that he can do this job and in the process save the human race from the greatest foe it has ever known, the evil Parallax (Clancy Brown).

While certainly not a masterpiece, “Green Lantern” is a fun-filled ride through the galaxy watching Hal Jordan beat up one of the scariest comic-book enemies imaginable. In the end, the audience is left wishing the movie was a bit longer and wondering why they cannot have a ring that lets them create things with only their mind. Overall, “Green Lantern” is definitely a good movie to simply enjoy.