Actors: Nathan
Fillion, Jason Isaacs, Elisabeth Moss
Format: Animated, Widescreen
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number of discs: 2
Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Movie:




Disc:




Anthologies
are always a hit-and-miss affair: you take the best along with the worst and
hope that the mix ultimately proves worthwhile . . .
DC Comics’ animated DVD scored an absolute coup with their
Gotham Knight anthology and now
it tries to repeat the feat with Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. It
doesn’t reach quite the same heights, with a slightly blander palate and
storyline, but as a tune-up course for the
upcoming Green Lantern
movie, it acquits itself in decent fashion.
Six stories make up the anthology, including the centerpiece that entails an
attack by an inhumanly powerful entity from another dimension. The Green
Lantern Corps is called upon to put it down, and as they prepare, human
Green Lantern Hal Jordan (voiced by Nathan Fillion) tells a new recruit
stories about their fellow Lanterns. The first tale concerns the founding of
the Corps, and the discovery that the green power rings can focus the user’s
will to create virtual constructs. An unlikely recruit discovers that his
mind matters more than his might, and sets the standard for all Lanterns to
follow.
The remaining four tales center around current Lanterns
and their various travails: the porcine Kilowog’s introduction to the Corps
(and the origin of his catch phrase “poozer”); the relentless Laira Omoto’s
return to her home plant, where she must confront her warlord father; a tale
of the one-of-a-kind Lantern Mogo; and an early adventure of Abin Sur – the
dying Lantern who found Hal Jordan -- capturing a very wily intergalactic
criminal.
All six stories have a nice punchy style and a dedication
to the characters that serve them well.
Directors Chris Berkeley, Lauren Montgomery and Jay Oliva
combine their respective visions admirably, drawing from a wealth of DC
Comics backgrounds to bring the film to life. The episodes remain true to
their origins without losing newbies in the process. Emerald Knights
assumes you know the basics about the Green Lantern Corps and Hal Jordan; if
you don’t, the first storyline gets you caught up very quickly. If you’re
looking to familiarize yourself with the most obscure corners of Lantern
lore before the live-action movie comes out, Emerald Knights is a
fast and efficient way to do it.
Unfortunately, that “mixed bag” thing raises its head more
often than not.
Many of the stories are based on deeply clichéd notions –
the grizzled sergeant training a team of rookies, the child who confronts
her corrupted parent, etc. – and Emerald Knights can’t always summon
the imagination to combat it. The inclusion of aliens and power rings simply
papers over the problem instead of properly addressing it, and while it
makes for some fun visuals, the thin structure underneath pokes through more
often than it should.
Luckily, the short running time means that Emerald
Knights moves on before true boredom can set in; if you don’t like one
story, just sit tight and another will be along in ten or fifteen minutes.
Fillion makes a pleasant and amiable narrator, and the points where the film
really hums – particularly in the Abin Sur and Mogo portions – help power
through the weaker spots.
They can’t bring Emerald Knights into the ranks of
the very best DC Comics movies, but after the dreadful disappointment of
All-Star Superman, its flaws remain
eminently forgivable. It achieves its appointed task of deepening the
Green Lantern universe for a wider audience, and conjures some
satisfying moments in the process. This series tends to do best when Batman
is involved, and with Year One due later this summer, we don’t have
to wait long. In the meantime, Emerald Knights holds the line quite
nicely, setting the table for (hopefully) better things to come.
THE DISC: The Blu-Ray contains a decent pair of
documentaries – one about the nature of heroism as it applies the Green
Lantern Corps in general and one about writer Geoff Johns, who brought Hal
Jordan back in the comics. Johns also provides audio commentary for the
film, along with DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio. Bruce Timm provides two
older cartoons (these from Batman: The
Brave and the Bold), and the set concludes with two brief pieces on
Laira Omoto and Abin Sur, a virtual comic book, a preview of the upcoming
Year One and the usual bevy of trailers. We miss the inclusion of a
short featuring a lesser-known DC hero (one of the high points of previous
DC animated movies), but considering that the main movie fulfills the same
basic purpose, it’s an easily excused omission.
WORTH IT? A bargain price might serve you better
than the full price, though Green Lantern fans should pick it up
regardless.
RECOMMENDATION: If you’re counting your
pennies, hold out for Year One in a few months, or pick up a copy of
First Flight, the Hal Jordan origins
story. Emerald Knights is well worth it as a rental, however, of if
you have some extra money for a Blu-ray purchase and nothing else to do with
it.
- Rob Vaux