As the home planet of the Green Lantern Corps faces a battle with ancient enemy Krona, Hal Jordan prepares new recruit Arisia for the coming conflict by relating stories of the first Green Lantern and several of Hal’s comrades.
This is a great collection of Green Lantern tales woven into a cohesive movie continuing the Green Lantern animated saga. I have always considered DC to do a great job with their animated features and ongoing cartoon series; it’s the live action movies they seem to fall behind on, while Marvel is the reverse in that scenario. This is perhaps the main reason why I have not seen the live action Green Lantern and have seen both animated features.
First off, it was great that Nathan Fiilion voiced Hal Jordan. I thought his casting, along with John Issacs for Sinestro, was spot on. The added bonus of Roddy Piper as Bolphunga was just fantastic. The stories were enjoyable, and while none were truly standout, it was well done over all.
Since this is a collective tale, I will give a brief review of each mini-story of the film:
The First Lantern
Avra, a scribe to the Guardians, is chosen by one of the first four power rings despite having no skill as a warrior.
A great little tale that shows both fans and casual viewers how the Green Lanterns learned to shape their ring’s energy. It also points out the origin of how Lanterns are chosen from the vast universal galaxy and its population.
Kilowog
Sgt. Deegan trains a rookie Kilowog and others by removing their power rings and putting them in deadly settings. Kilowog confronts Deegan and accuses him of a reckless training method and having no value for the lives of his trainees.
A great sergeant and his rookie squad tale, which of course starts with a training exercise and turns into a rescue mission. Wade Williams does a great voice performance for Sgt. Deegan. Although predictable, this story is one of my favorites of the movie.
Laira
Once a princess, Laira is sent on her first solo mission to her home world to deal with charges that her people are attacking other nations unprovoked.
Nothing new here as far as plot, but it’s still fun to watch Laira deal with her warrior family whose once honorable mindset has gone completely warmonger. If it was not in the movie, I wouldn’t have missed it since it did not do much for adding to overall plot or Green Lantern mythos…for me, at least.
Mogo Doesn’t Socialize
Bolphunga the Unrelenting seeks to fight and destroy all the most powerful warriors in the universe and is told he will never defeat the Green Lantern Mogo.
This was a short and funny Green Lantern tale with a surprising end. It was neat how it becomes important at the film’s ending and the destruction of the ultimate bad guy.
Abin Sur
Hal Jordan’s predecessor Abin Sur fights Atrocitus, an alien criminal who speaks dark prophecies.
This is a good Green Lantern Mythos building story that has Abin Sur, Hal’s predecessor–how cool it that? Wait, it gets cooler…Sinestro as well. For Green Lantern fans this one will be a known ending, but it was still fun to see.
Emerald Knights
Krona finally arrives from the Oa Sun. All the Green Lanterns fight swarms of Shadow Demons as Krona, an enormous figure, rises from the sun.
The final tale wraps up the movie as a whole as the great Krona is defeated in an epic battle with casualties galore. I though the overall tale to be the weakest of the lot, but it was still enjoyable.
I would definitely recommend this film for both younglings and comic book fans out there. Once more DC has shown they can do great Straight-to-DVD films, and a good Saturday afternoon movie.
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