A second-rate superhero receives a second-rate summer extravaganza in Green Lantern, the first big-screen adventure for DC Comics’ intergalactic do-gooder. Director Martin Campbell’s saga is one of creation, destruction and daddy issues, all revolving around a daredevil fighter pilot named Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) who is chosen by an alien ring – fueled by the positive green power of “will” – to be its new owner, thus making him part of a galaxy police force that, in the person of leader Sinestro (Mark Strong), views his membership with skepticism. Hal’s hero credentials are also questioned by former flame Carol (Blake Lively), who still has feelings for Hal and serves as the damsel in distress whom Hal must periodically save. Such valor is accomplished by using his magic ring, which makes manifest anything he imagines (be it a giant fist or a machine gun turret), and which comes in handy during his quest to thwart a planet-devouring force of yellow “fear” known as Parallax as well as the creature’s Earthly proxy, mutated scientist Hector Hammond (Peter Skarsgaard). Campbell’s CG-heavy action boasts his usual lucidity and fleetness, even if too many set pieces race by without building to a satisfyingly thrilling conclusion. Yet his story, in which Hal achieves self-actualization and becomes a savior by confronting his dead dad’s fallibility, is a tedious hodgepodge of rote conflicts and character hang-ups, all while failing to provide Reynolds with a single cocky one-liner to go with his wiseass routine, which ultimately proves as strained as the film’s energy is dim.
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