A lighter shade of green

Playing at: AMC, Angrignon, Brossard, Cavendish, Colossus, Côte des Neiges, Deux Montagnes, Kirkland, Lacordaire, Marché Central, Sources, Sphèretech, Taschereau cinemas.

Parents' guide: violence, intense action sequences.

A certain suspension of disbelief is necessary in any superhero movie; but with Green Lantern, downright denial may be your safest road to enjoyment.

The DC Comics character is the latest costumed crusader to be brought to the big screen, but all the special effects and far-out scenarios in the galaxy aren't enough to save this big-budget affair from the yawninducing powers of a bad script.

Four screenwriters were hired to try to shape the story into something halfway coherent. And director Martin Campbell was hired to work some blockbuster magic. But the result is a ragtag mix of elements from more successful films that never quite converge into one compelling narrative.

Things start off messy as the movie falls into the cumbersome trap of explaining how Green Lantern will get his superpowers. We are introduced to an intergalactic league of peace and justice protectors called the Green Lantern Corps.

The Lanterns are under siege, you see. Powered by courage, they are being crushed by a big, evil blob called Parallax, who feeds on fear.

Cut to Ryan Reynolds, decent in the title role, nailing wild-card pilot Hal Jordan's cocky flair with a twinkle in his eye. It all culminates in a Top Gunstyled fighter jet shootout featuring Jordan teamed up with childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively)

Long story short, spaceship with dying Lanternguy lands on Earth; the irresponsible Jordan is, it turns out, the chosen one. He is given a ring with special powers and a lantern to charge it, then summoned to outer space to meet his fellow Green Lantern Corps members and be told about the evil of Parallax.

Still with me?

Meanwhile, back on Earth, another of Jordan's childhood pals, the frustrated Dr. Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard) - in part because of his insensitive senator dad (Tim Robbins) - is fast becoming a bad guy.

Jordan also has issues with his father, a pilot like him who died in a plane crash; but while seemingly important at first, this becomes one of those loose ends that conveniently fades away.

Unsure whether to be a Star Wars/Trek outer space epic, or an Earthbound tale of growing up and overcoming one's demons, Green Lantern throws it all into the mix to see what sticks.

There are some cheesy Superman/Lois Laneinspired love scenes in which Jordan flies around with Ferris, and a superfluous showdown between him and Hammond; but all roads lead to the climactic battle with Parallax.

Ultimately, it ends up being a war of the wills. Jordan must overcome his fear of failure (or success, or of being a standup guy) and dare to stare down his enemy without flinching.

Their final fight sequence is sufficiently spectacular, but it's not enough in this film that never fully grabs you on any front.

Aside from the occasionally amusing one-liner and some cool special effects, it's a perplexingly nonsensical affair without the dramatic weight, action quotient or wit to carry us through.

And yet, a teaser in the closing credits sets up a sequel; better luck next time?

'Lantern' an Exciting Second-Tier Superhero

While 2012 will bring new movies featuring the “Big Three” of American superheroes — Superman, Batman and Spider-Man — as well as the years-in-the-works "Avengers" film, we have to make do this summer with the second string, which includes Thor, Captain America and now The Green Lantern.

The movie's mythology is convoluted. It takes more than a full hour to get going, and (par for the course this summer) there was no reason for it to be in 3D. But "The Green Lantern" redeems itself with a killer third act, taking advantage of a strong cast and a director who knows what he's doing.

A DC Comics property dating back to 1940, the Green Lantern's mythology concerns a powerful green life force harnessed by a galaxy-wide committee of aliens (sort of like the Jedi Council), who sees the primary movers of the universe as Will and Fear (which bear more than a passing resemblance to The Force and the Dark Side).

When a top alien comes to earth and dies, his ring falls into the hands of fighter pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds). It's up to him to save the world and possibly even the entire universe, while also doing battle with an alien-infected mad scientist (Peter Sarsgaard) who has designs on Hal's sometime girlfriend (Blake Lively).

The film's first hour is just a mess, as the mythology with the aliens is laid out in a boring and nonsensical way that no one who hasn't read the comics could possibly care about. The movie is credited to four writers, which tends not to be a good sign.

Then there's an airplane dogfight sequence that's practically a shot-for-shot remake of "Top Gun," right down to Reynolds' character being haunted by his heroic pilot father who died in a crash. (The father angle, which seems to motivate everything in the first act, is never mentioned again afterward.)

However, around the halfway point, things begin to recover, and that happens for a few reasons. The plot gets going and we get some strong action scenes, motivated by a brilliant, beautifully realized gimmick in which Reynolds can visualize any weapon he wants to use in battle. Also, we quickly realize that Ryan Reynolds was born to play a superhero and that Peter Sarsgaard was born to play a super villain.

Reynolds' natural charisma is an asset in the role, and while I didn't believe many things in this movie, I believed that he was a superhero. He has also got pretty strong chemistry with Lively, in a role that's much deeper than the average comic book movie girl part. And Sarsgaard, despite an underwritten role that doesn't give him enough to do, is his usual delightfully creepy self as a nerdy scientist who becomes more and more grotesque as the movie goes on, eventually looking like the Elephant Man.

"The Green Lantern" was directed by Martin Campbell, who knows his way around both action and franchise launches, having directed the James Bond debuts of both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

Despite the movie's sluggish pacing in the beginning, he does a very good job handling the action scenes, especially a blowout, set in space, at the end. We can always follow what's going on, although, once again, there's nothing with 3D that wouldn't have been better in 2D.

I also give the movie credit for confounding our expectations in a couple of different ways.

First, we're introduced to a company that's an aviation/defense contractor, and they somehow don't end up being the villains - I was sure, for instance, that Tim Robbins' character would be revealed as the ultimate baddie.

I was especially surprised when we find out there's a mysterious evil force called "The Parallax," but it turns out to be a super-alien that looks like the Kraken.

Also, "The Green Lantern" doesn't pretend that Reynolds' character, like Clark Kent, isn't obviously recognizable in a mask that only covers his eyes.

You may not even remember it past next week, and its based around a mythology that I absolutely couldn't care less about, but "The Green Lantern" nevertheless delivers more excitement than your average summer 2011 superhero movie.

DC Comics releases Green Lanterns in time for feature film's release

Looking to lure new readers to "Green Lantern" with this weekend's big-budget movie, DC Comics is offering up numerous reasons to visit your comic store.

This week saw the release of "Green Lantern" No. 67, scripted by legendary "Lantern" scribe Geoff Johns, which brings the epic "War of the Green Lanterns" to a close. Next week, "Green Lantern Corps" No. 61 will bring the war's aftermath and feature fan-favorite "Green Lanterns" John Stewart (the African-American Green Lantern from the recent "Justice League' animated series) and Kyle Rayner, followed the week after that by "Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors" No. 11, which will feature two Green Lanterns seen in the new film - Guy Gardner and Kilowog.

For those who don't want to jump in at the end of an epic story line and would prefer a one-and-done to get their feet wet, check out "Flashpoint: Abin Sur - The Green Lantern," in which the alien that crashes on Earth and gives Hal Jordan his power ring in both the comics and film survives - changing DC history.

The "Flashpoint" event will "reboot" the entire DC line of titles to make it more accessible to new readers, and the "Green Lantern" books are no exception.

So this fall, Johns reunites with artists Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy as the flagship series begins anew with "Green Lantern" No. 1 with cover by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado. Together they will continue to thrill readers and expand the Green Lantern mythos.

Additional new titles include: "Green Lantern Corps" No. 1, written by Peter J. Tomasi, which will chronicle deadly conflicts emerging across the universe so challenging that only an elite Green Lantern strike force can keep the peace; "Green Lantern: The New Guardians" No. 1, written by Tony Bedard, which has the power of rage, avarice, fear, will, hope, compassion and love combining to form the most powerful and colorful team in the Green Lantern Corps, and "Red Lanterns" No. 1, featuring a team of Lanterns fighting justice in the most bloody ways imaginable, taking no prisoners and acting as judge, jury and executioners.

All the above comics have a cover price of $2.99 each.

Fans new and old can also enjoy an animated origin tale of the ultimate intergalactic police force revealed across six interlocking tales of the legendary Green Lantern Corps in the just-released "Green Lantern: Emerald Knights," which stars Nathan Fillion ("Castle") as the voice of Hal Jordan and Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men") as new recruit Arisia. It will be available in Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray and DVD.

For interactive fans, the most exciting item available will be a new Green Lantern app now available for download, that will give new and old fans access to all things Green Lantern, including: more than 200 "Green Lantern" comic books, including "Green Lantern: Secret Origin" by Johns, all the trailers for the film, previews of other exciting "Green Lantern" releases such as the animated "Green Lantern: Emerald Knights," the video game "Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters" and more.

With full functionality, the "Green Lantern" app will have guided view for panel-to-panel enjoyment of "Green Lantern" digital comic books on the iPhone or iPad.

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