It's not easy being green, or so Ryan Reynolds is discovering after early reviews of his role as the "Green Lantern" have been less than glowing.
My advice? Anyone looking for a storyline in a summer superhero blockbuster should bark up a different galaxy because what "Lantern" lacks in plot, it makes up for with some interesting characters, fun CGI and rip-roaring special effects.
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Cocky fighter pilot Hal Jordan (Reynolds) gets picked by a dying warrior alien to wear a powerful ring that turns him into an interplanetary peacekeeping force. He'll have to go up against an evil force named Parallax -- a huge cloud of toxic gas -- who threatens to wipe out the home planet of the Green Lanterns, Oa, with its eventual target being Planet Earth. Parallax's force is built on fear, while the strength of Green Lanterns is built on will.
In addition to his shock of being catapulted into a different sector and the possibility of taking on a huge ball of noxious vapors, Jordan soon discover he's the first human to have been chosen to become part of the Green Lantern Corps. This creates even more challenges for the new lean, green fighting machine.
While Parallax threatens the universe from beyond, Jordan as the Green Lantern has another nemesis to contend with. Peter Sarsgaard plays mad scientist Hector Hammond. The sad-sack son of a senator (a very gray haired Tim Robbins), Hammond is invited to examine an alien species that the government has stashed away. "This is the first real alien the government has had despite all of the conspiracy theories," says a dry government scientist in a white lab coat, played by Angela Bassett in a role that wastes her talent. Her one dramatically delivered line is a nod to Roswell, perhaps?
Sarsgaard plays the scientist with a killer's creepiness eventually being overtaking by something that makes his face look like it was borrowed from the movie "Mask." Of course, there's personal stuff that dates way back between Hammond and Jordan. In this case, it's a girl named Carol Ferris (played by Blake Lively), a tossed in love interest that makes Hammond hate Jordan even more.
The film zips along in its action scenes, but grinds to a halt during love story moments, which, thank goodness, are few and far between. Some high voltage scenes keep up the momentum, and Reynolds is able to sell his delight as Jordan discovering that his will can create anything from chainsaws to race cars
Yes, it sounds juvenile, and, at times, "Green Lantern" is.
Maybe it's not as true blue to its origins as the recent "X-Men," but there are definitely enough bright spots in "Lantern" to make for summertime fun.