A fan recently took to Twitter to ask Ryan Reynolds if he should rent Green Lantern on Apple TV because it was on sale for $0.99. Even at that price, though, Reynolds still told him to “walk away.” Yes, nine years after the film released and the Canadian actor is still steering people away from his first shot at the superhero genre.
I actually recently re-watched Green Lantern on HBO. It was my first time seeing it since it came out in June of 2011 and upon further review, it’s still not very good. It certainly isn’t anywhere near the worst superhero movie ever made, but it’s just a forgettable entry in the genre despite the immense talent involved.
But circling back to Reynolds’ Tweet, and you can see it for yourself down below:
Walk away.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) April 25, 2020
It’s easy to forget how many talented people came together for Green Lantern. Tim Robbins is in it and so is Angela Bassett. And even Taika Waititi. Yes, he plays Reynolds’ best friend and I didn’t even recognize him until about halfway through the film. He has some strange American accent and there isn’t one ounce of charm or humor from him in the pic.
In fact, that’s the number one thing that hasn’t aged well about Green Lantern. Not the unmemorable story, the suspect CGI (particularly Hal Jordan’s suit) or Peter Sarsgaard’s giant head. It’s that director Martin Campbell somehow managed to make Taiki Waititi not funny.
And Campbell is one of the very best action directors there is. He made GoldenEye and Casino Royale, not to mention The Mask of Zorro and the underrated Vertical Limit. What went wrong, then?
Well, based on the films I just mentioned, he’s an old-school blockbuster director who likes to shoot practical set pieces. As such, Green Lantern was just the wrong material for him to dip his toe into the genre with. There were too many special effects and he clearly had a hard time shooting with so much green screen.
It actually worked out great for Reynolds, though. He met his future wife, Blake Lively, on the movie and it’s given him lots of material to use. Besides the social media jabs, he managed to work Green Lantern jokes into both Deadpool films, including a hilarious mid-credits scene in Deadpool 2 where he goes back in time to shoot himself in the head after reading the script for Green Lantern and deciding to do it.
It looks like the next time we see Green Lantern, it’ll be in a television show for HBO Max. Until then, though, continue to enjoy Reynolds poking fun at the movie and anyone who wants to rent it. Surely he’s still getting residuals for the film, right?
