- With stories by acclaimed writers including Geoff Johns, Alan Burnett and Dave Gibbons, this DC
- While awaiting a battle with Krona, an ancient enemy of the Guardians of the Universe, Earth’
In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, an elite force of protectors for peace and justice has existed for centuries. They are the Green Lantern Corps. When a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of the Corps' newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds). Bringing the popular superhero to the big screen for the first time, Green Lantern also stars Blake Lively (
Gossip Girl), Peter Sarsgaard (
Orphan), Mark Strong (
Sherlock Holmes), Academy Award® nominee Angela Bassett* and Academy Award® winner Tim Robbins**. As far as superheroes go, Green Lantern may lack the clean, i! conic lines of his more respectable DC counterparts Superman and Batman, but the very wonkiness of the premise (earthling joins elite force of space cops) lends itself to a pulpy, operatic, not-entirely-serious approach. (One of his teammates is a talking carrot, after all.) Capitalizing on a charming performance by Ryan Reynolds, the feature-film adaptation is a big, messy movie that, at its best, generates a feeling of aw-shucks wonder. Much like
Thor, it isn't afraid to loosen up on the inner turmoil of its hero and go macro. Based on comic writer Geoff Johns's retrofitting of the title character, the story follows Hal Jordan (Reynolds), an impulsive test pilot whose encounter with a dying alien leaves him with an energy ring capable of weaponizing his imagination. While struggling to master his will-based powers, he must deal with threats both earthbound (a hilariously nebbishy Peter Saarsgard, who may be the first supervillain to rock a hoodie) and galactic. Mar! tin Campbell, a director who specializes in more down-to-earth! heroics (
Casino Royale,
The Mask of Zorro), brings a pleasing matter-of-fact baseline to the proceedings, an approach that makes the increasingly outlandish effects truly feel special when they occur.
Green Lantern has its debits, certainly--the lack of a memorable theme, a second act that hems and haws before getting to the action, the standard origin story shoehorning in too many secondary plots--but its final scenes succeed on a Gigantor, cosmic level where most superhero movies fear to tread. The bigger it goes, the more goofily enjoyable it gets.
--Andrew WrightIn a universe as vast as it is mysterious, an elite force of protectors for peace and justice has existed for centuries. They are the Green Lantern Corps. When a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of the Corps' newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds). Bringing the popular superhero to ! the big screen for the first time, Green Lantern also stars Blake Lively (
Gossip Girl), Peter Sarsgaard (
Orphan), Mark Strong (
Sherlock Holmes), Academy Award® nominee Angela Bassett* and Academy Award® winner Tim Robbins**. As far as superheroes go, Green Lantern may lack the clean, iconic lines of his more respectable DC counterparts Superman and Batman, but the very wonkiness of the premise (earthling joins elite force of space cops) lends itself to a pulpy, operatic, not-entirely-serious approach. (One of his teammates is a talking carrot, after all.) Capitalizing on a charming performance by Ryan Reynolds, the feature-film adaptation is a big, messy movie that, at its best, generates a feeling of aw-shucks wonder. Much like
Thor, it isn't afraid to loosen up on the inner turmoil of its hero and go macro. Based on comic writer Geoff Johns's retrofitting of the title character, the story follows Hal Jordan (Reynolds), an impulsive test pilot! whose encounter with a dying alien leaves him with an energy ! ring cap able of weaponizing his imagination. While struggling to master his will-based powers, he must deal with threats both earthbound (a hilariously nebbishy Peter Saarsgard, who may be the first supervillain to rock a hoodie) and galactic. Martin Campbell, a director who specializes in more down-to-earth heroics (
Casino Royale,
The Mask of Zorro), brings a pleasing matter-of-fact baseline to the proceedings, an approach that makes the increasingly outlandish effects truly feel special when they occur.
Green Lantern has its debits, certainly--the lack of a memorable theme, a second act that hems and haws before getting to the action, the standard origin story shoehorning in too many secondary plots--but its final scenes succeed on a Gigantor, cosmic level where most superhero movies fear to tread. The bigger it goes, the more goofily enjoyable it gets.
--Andrew WrightIn a universe as vast as it is mysterious, an elite force of protectors for peace and j! ustice has existed for centuries. They are the Green Lantern Corps. When a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of the Corps' newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds). Bringing the popular superhero to the big screen for the first time, Green Lantern also stars Blake Lively (
Gossip Girl), Peter Sarsgaard (
Orphan), Mark Strong (
Sherlock Holmes), Academy Award® nominee Angela Bassett* and Academy Award® winner Tim Robbins**. As far as superheroes go, Green Lantern may lack the clean, iconic lines of his more respectable DC counterparts Superman and Batman, but the very wonkiness of the premise (earthling joins elite force of space cops) lends itself to a pulpy, operatic, not-entirely-serious approach. (One of his teammates is a talking carrot, after all.) Capitalizing on a charming performance by Ryan Reynolds, the feature-film adaptation is a big,! messy movie that, at its best, generates a feeling of aw-shuc! ks wonde r. Much like
Thor, it isn't afraid to loosen up on the inner turmoil of its hero and go macro. Based on comic writer Geoff Johns's retrofitting of the title character, the story follows Hal Jordan (Reynolds), an impulsive test pilot whose encounter with a dying alien leaves him with an energy ring capable of weaponizing his imagination. While struggling to master his will-based powers, he must deal with threats both earthbound (a hilariously nebbishy Peter Saarsgard, who may be the first supervillain to rock a hoodie) and galactic. Martin Campbell, a director who specializes in more down-to-earth heroics (
Casino Royale,
The Mask of Zorro), brings a pleasing matter-of-fact baseline to the proceedings, an approach that makes the increasingly outlandish effects truly feel special when they occur.
Green Lantern has its debits, certainly--the lack of a memorable theme, a second act that hems and haws before getting to the action, the standard origin sto! ry shoehorning in too many secondary plots--but its final scenes succeed on a Gigantor, cosmic level where most superhero movies fear to tread. The bigger it goes, the more goofily enjoyable it gets.
--Andrew WrightIn a universe as vast as it is mysterious, an elite force of protectors for peace and justice has existed for centuries. They are the Green Lantern Corps. When a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of the Corps' newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds). Bringing the popular superhero to the big screen for the first time, Green Lantern also stars Blake Lively (
Gossip Girl), Peter Sarsgaard (
Orphan), Mark Strong (
Sherlock Holmes), Academy Award® nominee Angela Bassett* and Academy Award® winner Tim Robbins**. As far as superheroes go, Green Lantern may lack the clean, iconic lines of his more respectable DC counterparts Superman ! and Batman, but the very wonkiness of the premise (earthling j! oins eli te force of space cops) lends itself to a pulpy, operatic, not-entirely-serious approach. (One of his teammates is a talking carrot, after all.) Capitalizing on a charming performance by Ryan Reynolds, the feature-film adaptation is a big, messy movie that, at its best, generates a feeling of aw-shucks wonder. Much like
Thor, it isn't afraid to loosen up on the inner turmoil of its hero and go macro. Based on comic writer Geoff Johns's retrofitting of the title character, the story follows Hal Jordan (Reynolds), an impulsive test pilot whose encounter with a dying alien leaves him with an energy ring capable of weaponizing his imagination. While struggling to master his will-based powers, he must deal with threats both earthbound (a hilariously nebbishy Peter Saarsgard, who may be the first supervillain to rock a hoodie) and galactic. Martin Campbell, a director who specializes in more down-to-earth heroics (
Casino Royale,
The Mask of Zorro), brings a ple! asing matter-of-fact baseline to the proceedings, an approach that makes the increasingly outlandish effects truly feel special when they occur.
Green Lantern has its debits, certainly--the lack of a memorable theme, a second act that hems and haws before getting to the action, the standard origin story shoehorning in too many secondary plots--but its final scenes succeed on a Gigantor, cosmic level where most superhero movies fear to tread. The bigger it goes, the more goofily enjoyable it gets.
--Andrew WrightAn anthology of 6 tales that show Hal Jordan and the Green Lanterns policing the galaxy a la “Gotham Knights.â€A crash course in all things Green Lantern is offered in
Emerald Knights, a DC Universe Animated Original feature that details the history of Hal Jordan and his Green Lantern Corps cohorts in an engaging and action-packed anthology film. Taking its cue from 2008's
Batman: Gotham Knight,
Emerald Knights spins the origin s! tories for Jordan and four pioneer members of the corps--Kilow! og, Lair a, Mogo, and Abin Sur--as a sort of inspiration for newly minted member Arisia (whom longtime GLC fans will know as Arisia Rrab) before she joins them in battle against the exiled scientist turned pure energy being Krona, who poses a threat to the entire universe. The five stories, including that of Jordan joining the corps, hew closely to the original source material, thanks to the presence of writers like DC Comics' chief creative officer Geoff Johns, fellow
Green Lantern writers Peter J. Tomasi and Eddie Berganza, Dave Gibbons (
Watchmen), and Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green, who penned the live-action
Green Lantern that will undoubtedly spur many viewers to seek out this feature. The stories are dramatic and well scripted, and avoid the clunky linking devices that plagued
Gotham Knight, and the voice cast, led by fan favorite Nathan Fillion (
Castle) as Hal Jordan and Elisabeth Moss (
Mad Men) as Arisia, is solid, with contributio! ns by Arnold Vosloo (
The Mummy) as Abin Sur and Jason Isaacs (
Harry Potter's Lucius Malfoy) as Sinestro among the highlights. The animation is also top-notch, with the interplanetary scenes rendered with an impressively cosmic sweep. Extras, however, are limited to sneak peeks of DCU's
All-Star Superman and
Batman: Year One.
--Paul Gaita
