Green Lantern stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular superhero in 90 mins of Hollywood big screen, 3D FX-laden guff. There's nothing wrong with it per se but the convoluted origin story involving a reckless test pilot joining an alien police force with magic rings granted by some immortal midgets vs a recently escaped Evil Cloud thingy requires a hefty amount of explanation so it felt that 3/4's of the film is introductions and build up leaving little time for anything substantial like say a plot or much characterisation. Ho hum - given Marvel's recent hit rate DC should really have tried harder with this one. Reynolds and Robbins are competent enough I suppose but it's only Mark Strong's performance as Sinestro that's notable in what is quintessentially just big screen bubble gum. Anyone else think Reynolds' eyes are freakishly close together?
Liam Neeson continues to mine his Euro thriller seam with Unknown a Hitchcockian tale about identity theft and assorted shenanigans. Neeson plays a biochemist visiting a Berlin conference but after waking up in hospital post accident it appears someone else is living his life and even his young wife doesn't seem to recognise him. Big Liam, after 10mins of doubt, is convinced he's not just lost his marbles and pounds around the city digging into the mystery. There's plenty of action and some decent performances from a talented cast and it's all-in-all quite entertaining but sadly lacks the viscera of Taken and hasn't enough imagination in the script/plot department to make up for it. I think it's safe to say the old Bourne/XIII/amnesia trope has definitely over stayed it's welcome.
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