Butler's Cinema Scene

“GREEN LANTERN” My rating: C- (Opening wide on June 17)

105 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

“Green Lantern” suggests we’ve reached the tipping point on special effects extravaganzas.

Just about every shot in this adaption of the long-running DC Comics series is crammed with CG doodling. There’s stuff here that, had we seen it even ten years ago, would have left us in the geek version of post-coital exhilaration.

But the truth is that we’ve seen so many special effects in recent years that they’re no longer special. They’re ho-hum.

Know what makes a movie special? Great characters. Fantastic dialogue. Interesting stories.

None of which are in evidence here.

Confession: As a kid I loved “Green Lantern” comics, especially the idea of a ring that allowed its user to “will” into reality anything he/she could think of. (I recall thinking that if I had one of those rings I’d conjure up Marilyn Monroe.)

But this film has a desultory feel. Martin Campbell’s direction is devoid of highs and lows, and even the usually watchable Ryan Reynolds — as a cocky test pilot who is recruited into a league of intergalactic lawmen — grows wearisome.

Moreover, the script (by a committee of writers) is crammed with blah-blah-blah back story. Even as a longtime Lanternite I got bored.

Among the noteworthy faces thrown into the mix are Angela Bassett, Peter Sarsgaard, and Mark Strong. Listen for the voices of Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan as a couple of alien members of the Green Lantern Corps.

Still, I love the idea of having one of those rings. If I did I’d will a better movie than this.

| Robert W. Butler