Green Lantern

Based on the DC Comics series, director Martin Campbell's Green Lantern opens with a lengthy CGI prologue explaining the origins of the Green Lantern Corps—an elite, intergalactic federation commanded by an ancient race of immortals called Guardians that polices some 3,600 sectors of the universe. But now a menace named Parallax (voiced by Clancy Brown) threatens to destroy the balance of power. Meanwhile on Earth, after cocky test pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) discovers a crashed spaceship and a dying alien named Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison), Hal becomes the first human chosen for the Green Lantern Corps, much to the dismay of leader Sinestro (Mark Strong). Jordan must learn how to harness the infinite power of his imagination as he goes through combat training with computer-generated Tomar-Re (voiced by Geoffrey Rush) and ogre-like Kilowog (voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan). Jordan's digitally enhanced torso transformation stuns lover and fellow pilot, Carol (Blake Lively), as well as flight navigator/confidant, Tom (Taika Waititi). Peter Sarsgaard costars as deranged xenobiology professor Hector Hammond, who has always been belittled by his arrogant father, Senator Robert Hammond (Tim Robbins), until he's asked to conduct an autopsy on Abin Sur's purple-skinned corpse—which changes everything. Conceived as the Hal Jordan origin story, Green Lantern is a bewildering if colorful splash-and-flash of a film, boasting little substance. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include previews of the Justice League #1 digital comic and Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the “Maximum Movie Mode” feature (with picture-in-picture commentary, production featurettes, character bios, galleries, storyboards, and more), “Focus Points” featurettes (47 min.), “The Universe According to Green Lantern” featurette (20 min.), “Ryan Reynolds Becomes the Green Lantern” (9 min.), deleted scenes (7 min.), bonus DVD and digital copies of the film, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a lame film.] (S. Granger)