(MOVIE REVIEW) Lantern may have failed to rake in the Green, but it still manages to offer fans an enjoyable movie

Matthew 5:5 says that “the meek shall inherit the Earth”. Well, I don’t know when that will happen, but I do know that the summer of 2011 is when “the geek shall inherit the Earth”. This summer has been loaded with fan-boy movies like no other summer in recent history. We have already seen The Green Hornet, Priest, Thor, X Men: First Class and this week’s Green Lantern on the big screen. Not to mention that Captain America and Transformers are still to come this year. So, needless to say, I am in the dorkiest part of dork heaven…and I love it. 

Green Lantern begins with an origin story and lots of exposition about how the Green Lantern Corps, a group of thousands of defenders that harness the willpower of the universe through their rings to form whatever the rings wielder can imagine, fought to capture a ruthless entity named Parallax. Parallax derives his power from fear. When Parallax escapes his prison, he targets the one Green Lantern that was responsible for his capture, Abin Sur. When Abin Sur is fatally wounded by Parallax, the ring seeks out a replacement Green Lantern to protect earth. It chooses Hal Jordan (Reynolds). When Jordan accepts the ring he is taken to the planet Oa, home of the Corps, to train. Training is cut short when Parallax begins destroying entire planets, causing genocide, and decides to make his next target earth. Jordan must be fearless, he must protect his planet, and he must find a way to defeat Parallax. Can he fight an unstoppable force, or is another planet forced to suffer extermination by Parallax?

Right out of the box I have to say this. I built this movie up SO BIG in my mind that it would never be as good as I hoped. That being said, it was a really fun movie that has a lot of heart, a little comedy, and some truly amazing special effects (especially in 3D). Sinestro (Mark Strong) is a great character in the film and will play a larger part in the next. While I am not a big fan of Peter Sarsgaard, he played the character of Hector Hammond perfectly. 

Worth the admission? Does Ryan Reynolds look good in tights? My wife thought so. The movie is not a 10, but it is at least an 8. What was worth the ticket price alone was to get to hear the Green Lantern Oath. An amazing moment in the movie and well acted by Reynolds. Go see this movie!

Watch the credits for a bonus scene let me know what you thought of the set up for the next film.