This film is "inoffensive" in a way. Nothing hateful or terribly gross or upsetting about it. But it does have at least two major problems that had I known fully what they were beforehand, I would have saved myself a bit of money and my time, and done something else.
One, this is yet another in the tiresome line of uninspired movies based on a comic book. You'd think the collective hearts and minds of what we call "Hollywood" could come up with an original idea. Spending $150 million on a gimicky re-working of some other person's idea (that is, ripping off the comic book writers) really seems stupid. There are many talented artists out there whose work not only deserves to be funded, but whose work would be a lot more interesting. Maybe even exciting! And maybe, in at least a few cases, uplifting or inspiring in some way that actually contributes something to all of us--- which is the true purpose of art anyway, right?
And two, this wasn't very carefully thought out or written. You've heard criticisms of previous special FX movies where the reviewer bemoans all the slam-bam frenetic FX shots, one after another. I promise that if you are unfortunate enough to sit through this movie your jaw will drop at the sheer amount of literally non-stop whiz-bang FX- not even one after another so much as one continuous blast of the CGI cartoonist's most hectic product.
The plot points were not self-evident, at least not to me. Jet races were followed by jump cuts to kitchen scenes and then inter-galactic scenes, then space, then what appeared to be Hell, then "mysterioso" councils of wizened old cartoon "yoda" types, etc. A virtually indestructible space warrior (we find out later he was the strongest, bravest, most clever, the final hope of the Universe, etc.--- yet he somehow got shot in the shoulder and is in the process of flying his broken spaceship around earth, looking for a place to crash and die. Oh wait- he doesn't die until he tells his green ring to "choose well," and then somehow Ryan Reynolds shows up ready to be amazed and enlisted.
One question--- if the magic green ring is clever enough to find Ryan Reynolds amidst all of earth, and not just ID him but go get him, place him in a protective green bubble then whisk him 100 miles to the dying space warrior in instant--- why couldn't such a nifty ring fix a wounded shoulder?
Scenes reminiscent of the covers of 1950s sci-fi paperback books showed vague and ill-defined landscapes of rocks and cliffs and rubble. That kind of thing is OK, and might fit into some stories--- but nothing was explained, nothing was set-up, nothing was logical. Not even "artistically" logical.
I like Ryan Reynolds. Tim Robbins has always been a sturdy enough character actor, and a few of the other secondary characters here were played by good actors as well. But dang- I had no idea what they were doing. What's with that creepy doctor guy? What is the evident long-term relationship between him and Ryan Reynolds? What was he doing in the movie anyway, except to turn physically hideous and provide a bit of senseless peril to the Pretty Girl? I don't know- none of that was established.
Bottom line- this was just plain stupid. And not because it was "fantastical" or weird or sci-fi. Rather, because it was simply not good work.
One, this is yet another in the tiresome line of uninspired movies based on a comic book. You'd think the collective hearts and minds of what we call "Hollywood" could come up with an original idea. Spending $150 million on a gimicky re-working of some other person's idea (that is, ripping off the comic book writers) really seems stupid. There are many talented artists out there whose work not only deserves to be funded, but whose work would be a lot more interesting. Maybe even exciting! And maybe, in at least a few cases, uplifting or inspiring in some way that actually contributes something to all of us--- which is the true purpose of art anyway, right?
And two, this wasn't very carefully thought out or written. You've heard criticisms of previous special FX movies where the reviewer bemoans all the slam-bam frenetic FX shots, one after another. I promise that if you are unfortunate enough to sit through this movie your jaw will drop at the sheer amount of literally non-stop whiz-bang FX- not even one after another so much as one continuous blast of the CGI cartoonist's most hectic product.
The plot points were not self-evident, at least not to me. Jet races were followed by jump cuts to kitchen scenes and then inter-galactic scenes, then space, then what appeared to be Hell, then "mysterioso" councils of wizened old cartoon "yoda" types, etc. A virtually indestructible space warrior (we find out later he was the strongest, bravest, most clever, the final hope of the Universe, etc.--- yet he somehow got shot in the shoulder and is in the process of flying his broken spaceship around earth, looking for a place to crash and die. Oh wait- he doesn't die until he tells his green ring to "choose well," and then somehow Ryan Reynolds shows up ready to be amazed and enlisted.
One question--- if the magic green ring is clever enough to find Ryan Reynolds amidst all of earth, and not just ID him but go get him, place him in a protective green bubble then whisk him 100 miles to the dying space warrior in instant--- why couldn't such a nifty ring fix a wounded shoulder?
Scenes reminiscent of the covers of 1950s sci-fi paperback books showed vague and ill-defined landscapes of rocks and cliffs and rubble. That kind of thing is OK, and might fit into some stories--- but nothing was explained, nothing was set-up, nothing was logical. Not even "artistically" logical.
I like Ryan Reynolds. Tim Robbins has always been a sturdy enough character actor, and a few of the other secondary characters here were played by good actors as well. But dang- I had no idea what they were doing. What's with that creepy doctor guy? What is the evident long-term relationship between him and Ryan Reynolds? What was he doing in the movie anyway, except to turn physically hideous and provide a bit of senseless peril to the Pretty Girl? I don't know- none of that was established.
Bottom line- this was just plain stupid. And not because it was "fantastical" or weird or sci-fi. Rather, because it was simply not good work.