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GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD KNIGHTS DVD
(***)
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GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD KNIGHTS DVD
Review by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
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Directed by:
Various, see reviews below for individual credits. |
Written
by:
Various, see reviews below for individual credits. |
Starring the Voices of:
Nathan Fillion, Elisabeth Moss, Henry Rollins, |
Running time:
84 minutes
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Released:
06/07/11-direct to dvd |
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Rated PG-13
for sci-fi action violence throughout, and for some language. |
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"...another solid 80-minute feature from Bruce Timm and Warner Bros.
Animation"
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 With director Martin Campbell's Green Lantern
already gone from theaters, Warner Bros. Animation has released its second
animated anthology film, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. Scorned Batman fans
will no doubt hesitate at the mere mention of Emerald Knights; recalling the
animated anthology that came before it, The Dark Knight's poorly received,
similarly titled 2008 tie-in, Batman: Gotham Knight. Many are wondering whether
Warner Bros. Animation and executive producer Bruce Timm are about to repeat the
same mistakes or if Emerald Knights will finally, finally take away some of the
sting of Gotham Knight.
Based on the three-issue DC Comics limited series, "Tales of the Green Lantern
Corps," Emerald Knights opens with the resurrection of an ancient evil -- a
ruthless rogue Oan named Krona -- that the Guardians of the Universe once
transformed into pure energy, long before the Guardians established the Green
Lantern Corps and began policing thousands of sectors across the cosmos. Now, as
the Guardians evacuate their homeworld and send the entire Corps to face Krona,
Hal Jordan (voiced by Nathan Fillion) takes a nervous recruit named Arisia Rrab
(Elisabeth Moss) under his wing and tries to ease her fears. Deprived of the
luxury of training the young girl, Hal decides to tell her a series of stories
from Corps lore involving the Guardians, the first ring bearers and other
legendary Lanterns, among them Kilowog, Laira, Abin Sur and Sinestro.
THE FIRST LANTERN
Written by Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim
Directed by Christopher Berkeley
Hal's first story begins shortly after Krona's original defeat and dispersement;
before the Green Lanterns began patrolling the universe en masse. The Guardians,
in an effort to establish further order in the cosmos, assemble the greatest
warriors in the universe and allow the first four power rings to choose their
bearers. The first three rings choose a trio of renowned champions, but the
fourth ring does the unexpected, choosing the Guardians' unassuming scribe, Avra
(Mitchell Whitfield). No, Avra wasn't the first Green Lantern according to
comics lore; that honor goes to Rori Dag. Regardless, Emerald Knights' opening
volley is an excellent one, setting the tone for everything that will follow.
Character development is kept to the barest of minimums, but it doesn't derail
the short at all. The First Lantern's climactic battles come courtesy of a
compelling short story with a distinct beginning, middle and end. The dialogue
is succinct but satisfying, Fillion's narration keeps the story hurtling along,
and the action is fierce, fiery and fantastic. Avra and his comrades not only
learn the extent of their rings' power, they forge the Corps that is to come,
accomplishing things even the Guardians didn't anticipate. It's a fitting
introduction to Green Lantern history (despite some departures from comic book
canon) that makes the most of its hard-hitting animation, breakneck pacing and
light-bending plot. Besides, alien ships are ripped to pieces in spectacular
fashion. What more could you ask for?
KILOWOG
Written by Peter J. Tomasi, Directed by Lauren Montgomery
Was Kilowog always the gruff, no-nonsense block of bad attitude he is today? Not
quite, at least according to the next story Hal tells Arisia. It turns out
Kilowog (Henry Rollins) was once little more than a recruit himself, struggling
to earn the respect of his boot camp sergeant, a -- surprise! -- gruff,
no-nonsense block of bad attitude named Deegan (Wade Williams). Like The First
Lantern, Kilowog is designed from the ground up to appeal to mythos newcomers
and longtime Green Lantern fanboys alike. And it does everything it should and
more, easing rookies into the culture of the Corps while giving comic shop
regulars exactly what they would want from a quick dip into Kilowog's past. It's
a smartly penned tale too; one that pulses with a character-driven energy all
its own, scrapping narration in favor of an extra helping of top-notch voice
acting and large-scale showdowns. Seeing Kilowog finally step out of Deegan's
shadow, predictable a step as it might be, is rooted in just enough pathos,
heroism and well-deserved chest-puffing to make it all a blunt-force blast to
watch unfold.
LAIRA
Written by Eddie Berganza, Directed by Jay Oliva
On her first solo mission, female Lantern Laira (Kelly Hu) returns to her home
planet to discover her childhood kingdom in the throes of interstellar chaos.
But the enemy she encounters isn't at all the enemy she expected to fight when
she left Oa. In the ensuing battle, Laira is left with little choice but to
choose between her past and her future, and make a decision that, in many ways,
will haunt her forever. While debate will no doubt ensue as to which short
resonates the most, Laira stands, in my humble opinion, as the best vignette
Emerald Knights has to offer. It's bristling with more rock-em, sock-em
throwdowns than its brethren and it delves more deeply into its
near-Shakespearean cast of characters than any other short. Yes, Berganza
truncates and alters a number of crucial details in Ruben Diaz and Travis
Charest's "What Price Honor," the original post-Crisis on Infinite Earths comic
arc upon which Laira is based. But I would argue almost every change makes the
rapidfire narrative stronger and more rewarding, and Hal's third tale is all the
more commanding, tragic and memorable for it.
MOGO DOESN'T SOCIALIZE
Written by Dave Gibbons, Directed by Jay Oliva
Which brings me to the least effective short. Mogo Doesn't Socialize is capably
written and admirably animated, sure, but its twist can be spotted half a light
year away. Mogo, as Hal wryly describes him, is the most reclusive of all
Lanterns, but also the most powerful; a fact a merciless brute called Bolphunga
the Unrelenting (Roddy Piper) finds out the hard way when he decides to prove
he's the "greatest warrior in the galaxy!" (Cue maniacal laughter.) While it all
starts out well enough I suppose, it soon slows to a crawl as Bolphunga traipses
across a planet in search of a Lantern who has little reason to fear his
tree-toppling challenger. Unfortunately, Gibbons isn't quite the writer Alan
Moore was when the Watchmen duo created Mogo in 1985. Gibbons may have
illustrated the original comic, but between the jokes that proceed Hal's tale,
the Lantern's all-too-revealing narration and the animation's telegraphed
punches, Gibbons' belabored mystery wears out its welcome long before it plays
its most obvious hand. That said, the short isn't a failure at all -- its
presence actually pays off later in the film -- it just isn't as polished as the
rest of Emerald Knights.
ABIN SUR
Written by Geoff Johns, Directed by Christopher Berkeley
What will surely be many a Green Lantern fan's favorite short -- Abin Sur --
comes courtesy of the man most often credited with rejuvenating the Green
Lantern comic series: Geoff Johns. And it's an excellent one. Years before Abin
Sur (Arnold Vosloo) crashed on Earth and gave his ring to a bewildered test
pilot, years before Sinestro (Jason Isaacs) embraced his dark side and turned on
the Corps, the two Lanterns fought side by side, bringing some of the universe's
most notorious criminals to justice. But in the wake of their latest mission,
Abin Sur is warned of Sinestro's fall from grace. The question is, will he
believe it? Or will his loyalty to his comrade blind him to the truth? Abin Sur
doesn't quite signal the end of Emerald Knights -- Hal and the Corps still need
to deal with Krona, of course -- but it is its darkest, most dramatic vignette.
Tension is apparent from the outset. We all know Sinestro will turn on his
friends one day. The question is how close is he to that day? It only helps that
Abin Sur features the most seasoned voice acting in the film. Vosloo and Isaacs
are terrific and accomplish more in ten minutes than poor Fillion is given the
opportunity to do in an hour. The animation itself rarely falters either, and
the whole of Abin Sur is exceedingly satisfying.
EMERALD KNIGHTS
Written by Alan Burnett, Geoff Johns & Todd Casey
Directed by Christopher Berkeley
It all comes to a head as Hal and legions of Lanterns join forces to stop Krona.
Unfortunately, Jordan never really earns time in the spotlight, the film's
lumbering, planet-dwarfing Big Bad doesn't bring much to the table (other than
some flashy pyrotechnics and peripheral mayhem), the climactic battle that
erupts isn't very gripping or inventive, and the overarching story proves to be
little more than a framing device. Even so, Emerald Knights is a more refined,
reliable and absorbing anthology than Batman: Gotham Knight, if for no other
reason than both its animation and storytelling are consistent and cohesive from
beginning to end. Whereas Gotham Knight took its patchwork cues from The
Animatrix, Emerald Knights actively blurs any lines that exist between the
various writers' scripts and eliminates the use of multiple animation houses
altogether. The result is a more substantial film with stronger shorts and
tighter animation. It isn't the best DCU animated original movie, but it
certainly isn't the worst. Far from it. It marks a significant leap forward from
Gotham Knight and another solid 80-minute feature from Bruce Timm and Warner
Bros. Animation |
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GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD KNIGHTS © 2011 Warner Home Video
All Rights Reserved
Review © 2011 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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