Spectral Superhero

The Green Lantern squanders its initial promise to its campy villain and proceedings.

The introductory voiceover for Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern, with its explanation of color-coding, may as well be a time portal that returns us to primary school. But as we listen to the expositions on the green power of will and the yellow power of fear (again, reminding us of that juvenile ditty about yellow and dirty fellows) we are liable to ignore another early school lesson; a lesson that, maybe, explains the significance of choosing these particular colors from the spectrum. The acronym most of us learnt for the colors in a rainbow, VIBGYOR, tells us that green and yellow are the two central, adjacent colors in the spectrum. Choosing green to represent will and yellow to represent fear suggests that a thin line separates two of humanity’s core emotions. And this internal struggle is at the heart of the transformation of Hal Jordan into the Green Lantern.

Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds robbed of his loquacious charm) is a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft and widely acknowledged as one of the best (despite having the most ridiculous call sign since Goose in Top Gun). Yet he remains traumatized by the apparition of his father Martin, also a pilot, exploding to smithereens. While we must summarily ignore questions such as ‘why was a young boy so close to an exploding plane?’ we must concede that the experience would have scarred anyone for life. His internal demons nearly cost Ferris a contract with the US Airforce and him his life. The largesse of Carol Ferris (Blake Lively giving her last name no credence), Hal’s one time squeeze and heir apparent to the Ferris aircraft fortune, ensures that his job is safe. Carol also provides a shoulder for him to cry on when he can find the words to verbalize his fears.

As Hal struggles with his issues, Parallax, the embodiment of fear itself, escapes from a prison on the planet of Ryut. Powered by the yellow energy of fear, Parallax heads toward the planet of Oa, to extract revenge on the Guardians who harness the green power of will. Each member of the Green Lantern Corps, the military wing of this galactic council of Guardians, derives power from their ring and will. Abin Sur, one of the most powerful members of the corps, is the Parallax’s first casualty. He crashes on earth and his ring of power chooses Hal to be its bearer.

Unfortunately, a part of Parallax from Abin Sur’s body also infects Dr.Hector Hammond. Hector has his own set of issues to grapple with. A shy, soft-spoken biologist, Dr.Hammond is the prototypical high school loser who never grew out of his shell. His powerful father, Tim Robbins as Senator Hammond, constantly undermines him and Carol, the woman of his dreams, does not return his affections. When he is infected by Parallax a number of convenient intersections between Hal, Carol and Hector are set in motion.

Green Lantern is largely a generic exercise in self-discovery. The parallels between the Green Lantern Corps and the army are clear for all to see. So also is the essentially entrepreneurial belief in the power of one man’s will. There are, however, fleeting moments that bring a smile to one’s face – both during Hal’s induction to the Corps. Having depended on machines to fly all his life Hal is absolutely joyous when he discovers the ring allows him to fly. He does a few spontaneously playful maneuvers before following his inducting officer, Tomar Re, to the training grounds. At the training grounds his childish marvel is back as he watches Tomar Re manipulate multiple Mobius strips through the power of his will. Unfortunately these moments are a rarity and we rarely witness such human moments as the film decides to cater to its plot. The problem with this choice is that the film fails to realize its potential. Just as a ring that can create anything one can visualize is limited by the user’s imagination so is Green Lantern limited by the choices it makes. The film tends to get campier as it progresses with Hector turning into a hideously disfigured villain and some hackneyed plot contrivances. Sadly the verdant color of the uniform and the light emanating from the ring does not rub off on to the rest of the film.  

P.S: An edited version appears in today's City Express Supplement of the New Indian Express.