It must be a difficult task to assemble an action-adventure fantasy, especially for this summer of superhero-origin movies, with Thor and X-Men already in theaters and Captain America following in July. Difficult, that is, unless the writers abandon originality and build their script with elements from other movies — all other movies. Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg, the concocters of Green Lantern, had 70 years of the DC comic-book character to use as inspiration; but they also borrowed enough tropes from old film fantasies to make an Identi-kit of blockbuster cliches. Check off the punch list of items in this Green Lantern manifest:
1. a world governed by a race of wise elders, perched on high columns and with their desiccated faces in fishbowls; cf. Clash of the Titans
2. a backstory of interplanetary battle: here between the Green Lantern Corps and a malignant force called Parallax that destroys its foes through soul-sucking; cf. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. a magical ring that imparts great power to the wearer; cf. The Lord of the Rings
4. a bold, reckless hero, Hal Jordan , traumatized by father issues; cf. Star Wars, Iron Man, etc etc.
5. a heroine, Carol Ferris , who is meant to assume control of her father’s aircraft company; cf. Iron Man’s Tony Stark
6. a nerd scientist, Hector — also with pretty severe father issues — whose thirst for interplanetary knowledge makes him drunk with power, and whose exposure to a strange element turns him into a villain; cf. The Thing from Another World, The Incredible Hulk, etc etc.
7. an alien aristocrat, Sinestro , with a mysterious agenda and pointy ears; cf. Spock in Star Trek
8. the catchphrase “With great power comes great responsibility”; cf. Spider-Man
…plus dozens of others we didn’t notice or don’t care about, in a movie that abandons creative storytelling for manifest destiny. Apart from some very spiffy visual effects, which create coherent, scary outer-space textures and architecture, Green Lantern is the most generic of summer time-wasters. The tone chosen by director Martin Campbell is an uneasy mix of solemnity and jock joking, as the film hopscotches from deepest space to shallowest Earth.
Company The Movie: Can Dr. Doogie and Stephen Colbert Sing Sondheim?Box Office: Super 8 Is E.T.
