‘Green Lantern’ Movie Review And Why It’s Exactly Like ‘Transformers: The Movie’ (1986)

I love comic books. I don’t always love the movies spawned from comic books. Knowing nothing about “Green Lantern” and his story, I went into this movie a complete n00b. The only thing I did know was that I really like Ryan Reynolds and I like jewelry. I especially like jewelry that possesses super awesome powers.

After the movie was over, my fiance asked me if I liked it. I said I did because I was expecting nothing more than a buttery, summer popcorn movie. As long as you keep this in mind AND you’re not a die hard Green Lantern fan (I have no idea how close this movie was in keeping with the comics), then it’s pretty enjoyable. Clyde really liked it too but that’s because he realized something. More on this later.

If you, too, like fantastic jewelry with added extras but have no idea what “Green Lantern” is about, here’s a little sneak peak courtesy of IMDb :

A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe.

Gotta love an accessory that does so much more than just look pretty on your body. Warning!! Warning!!! Spoiler alert!!

Double Take

I was too busy enjoying the movie to notice but my super sharp fiance and date for the evening, Clyde, brought something to my attention.

“Babe….don’t you think this movie is almost exactly like the Transformers Movie from 1986?” That movie is one of his favorite movies (I really like it too. I cry every time Optimus Prime dies….so sad…) which explains why he enjoyed “Green Lantern”.

It took all of 0.4 seconds for me to see that he was right. In case you don’t see it, let me break it down :

Unicron = Parallax
Optimus Prime = Abin Sur
Ultra Magnus = Sinestro
Megatron turned into Galvatron = Dr. Hector Hammond turned into Evil Dr. Hector Hammond With The Humangous Head
Hot Rod turned into Rodimus Prime = Hal Jordon, the normal human turns into Hal Jordan, Green Lantern

Unicron communicated telepathically with Megatron/Galvatron and told him to destroy whoever else possesses the Matrix.

Parallax communicated telepathically with Evil Giant Headed Dr. Hammond and tells him to destroy the Green Lantern.

Hot Rod didn’t know if he could live up to Optimus Prime’s legacy but, in the end, he found the strength to be the leader of the Autobots and kicked major baddie ass.

Hal Jordon was full of doubt and thought Abin Sur’s ring made a mistake when choosing him because he didn’t see himself as being worthy. Neither did anyone else. In the end, Hal Jordon recognized his full potential, seized the responsibility of being a Green Lantern and singlehandedly kicked major baddie ass.

Ultra Magnus failed to awaken the power of the Matrix. He was not the true leader. In the movie, Sinestro appeared to be the leader of the Lanterns. He didn’t think Will was strong enough to defeat his enemies and had a ring crafted from Fear. From what I understand, that means he failed with Will and decided to go over to the dark side.

Even the premise of the movies are similar. In both movies, there’s a giant entity gobbling up entire worlds / civilizations and it must be stopped. In both movies, the day is saved by one being who initially doubted himself but soon grew into his role.

Cheesy Goodness

You know, I can’t think of anybody else who could’ve played Hal Jordan as well as Ryan Reynolds. Then again, this kind of role (minus the superhero part….and the part about wearing skin tight suits that leave very little to the imagination… * ahem *) is the kind he always seems to land.

Young, cocky to the point of being obnoxious, seemingly invincible but, deep down in that muscled body of his, beats a big squishy heart full of awesome fuzzy feelings. Yup. This role had Ryan’s name all over it.

It was also super cheesy at times but I. Eat. That. Ish. Up. The part where Parallax and Green Lantern were duking it out and it looked like Green Lantern was gonna die? And he started reciting the Oath? Omg….I am not ashamed to say a little tear rolled its way down my face.

How To Convince A Girl To See This Movie With You

Tell her there’s a good looking guy wearing pretty much nothing besides green and black paint.

Tell her it’s a love story in which the man realizes how he much he loves the girl.

Tell her he saves the day, including the girl from the super creepy and gross weird guy, and the movie ends with them staying together.

Tell her it’s a love story because it totally is….well…that’s part of the overall story….

Last Thoughts

STAY FOR THE END CREDITS! I’m pretty sure this means there will be a sequel. Nice.

When Hal Jordon conjured that AWESOMELY huge green sparkler of a necklace and gave it to her, did no one else notice that it disappeared? * sigh * Oh well. It’s the thought that counts. Besides, saving her life more than once MORE than makes up for disappearing semi-permanent jewelry any day.