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Info:
  • Blu-ray: Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
  • Rating: PG
  • Starring (Voices): Nathan Fillion, Jason Isaacs, Henry Rollins, Kelly Hu, Roddy Piper, Arnold Vosloo
  • Written By: Geoff Johns
  • Directed By: Chris Berkeley
  • Distributor: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
  • Original Year of Release: 2011
  • Extras: See Below
  • Series: Green Lantern: Emerald Knights

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights Blu-Ray Review

Shines the Spotlight on The Green Lantern Corps.

By Tim Janson     June 05, 2011


Hal Jordan and Arisia In Green Lantern: Emerald Knights(2011).
© Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

 

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is the latest DC Comics original animated film but if you were hoping for or expecting a “Hal Jordan” Green Lantern film, you might be disappointed. Rather than focus on one character the film is actually an anthology of five stories featuring other members of the Green Lantern Corps and book-ended by a story that features the Corps battling to save Oa from Krona and his Shadow Demons.
 
As the story opens Oa comes under attack and the GL Corps gathers to plan their battle against Krona. While waiting to charge their rings Hal Jordan (and Sinestro) share five stories about other members of the Corps. The first is about Avra the first Green Lantern and how a lowly scribe was picked to become the first Green Lantern over seemingly more qualified warriors. It conveys that the Power Rings look for more than a person who can fight but this was the slowest and weakest of the five stories.
 
Next up is Killowog who we get to see as a rookie Green Lantern facing the wrath of Deegan, a drill sergeant who is even meaner than he is. We also get the origin of Killowog’s favorite word—“Poozer”. Good story showing you the makeup and a different side of Killwog. Henry Rollins voices Killowog and does a better job than you might expect. It’s not the stone-grating voice we’ve heard in other DC animated projects but Rollins is surprisingly good.
 
Mogo’s tale is amusing but also silly. Bolphunga the Unrelenting is a warrior who believes he is the greatest in the universe but he’s told even he could not defeat Mogo. Bolphunga journeys to Mogo’s world and spends years searching in vain for the secretive Green Lantern until Mogo finally makes his appearance. DC makes a rare mistake in voice casting by using former wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper as the voice of Bolphunga. Piper reads his lines like he’s cutting a pre-match promo with Hulk Hogan, virtually yelling and screaming throughout. Talk about grating!
 
In the next tale Laira Omoto is given a difficult solo task by the Guardians…She has to bring law and order to a world deemed hostile by the Guardians. Turns out its her own world of Jayd, putting her in conflict with her family who rules the planet. It’s a Greek tragedy animation-style as Laira has to decide between the duty to the Corps and her loyalty to her family.
 
Lastly is Abin-Sur’s chapter (Co-starring Sinestro) as he battles against Guardian enemy Atrocitus. After Atrocitus is captured, he gives Abin-Sur a glimpse into the grim future of the GL Corps. This story is mildly disappointing as Abin-Sur comes off looking like the weakest Green Lantern ever, first for getting his ass kicked by Atrocitus and needing Sinestro to save him, and for not heeding Atrocitus’ warning because of his blind faith in his “friend” Sinestro. The film concludes with most of the GL Corps battling Krona, although we get no Guy Gardner or John Stewart. The conclusion is large-scale spectacle although maybe a little rushed.
 
Clearly this film is aimed at the avid DC and Green Lantern fan who is familiar with some of the lesser known characters like Killowog, Mogo, Krona, etc…For those who might only know Hal Jordan, it serves as an informative look at the Corps and just how all-encompassing it is. DC always does a great job with the voice acting (Are you listening, Marvel?) and this film is no different. Nathan Fillion is brilliant as Hal Jordan capturing that steady voice of confidence and strength; superb villain Jason Isaacs is perfect as the voice of Sinestro. Others include Arnold Vosloo as Abin-Sur; Kelly Hu as Laira; and Wade Williams (Prison Break) as Deegan. 
 
Like any anthology the stories are a mixed bag but none of them are bad and the outstanding cast makes this one of the better DC Comics animated films.
 
Blu-Ray Extras
 
Audio Commentery with Dan DiDio and Geoff Johns
 
Only the Bravest: Tales of The Green Lantern Corps (31:00) – Looks at the concept of heroism and bravery through interviews with DiDio, Johns, and others including noted psychologists. Examines historical heroes like JFK and Teddy Roosevelt. A bit slow moving and long.
 
Why Green Lantern Matters: The Talent of Geoff Johns (18:00) – Johns looks at the recent history of Hal Jordan from becoming Parallax to becoming the next Spectre to his rebirth as a Green Lantern.
 
From Comic Book to Screen: Abin Sur (3:11) – A quick peek into Geoff John’s “Green Lantern Secret Origin” book which, for the first time, showed fans what really happened to Abin Sur before he crashed landed on Earth, and passed his ring to Hal Jordan.
 
Beautiful … But Deadly – From Comic Book to Screen: Laira Omoto (3:52) –Known as one of the Green Lantern Corps’ fiercest warriors, this mini-featurette takes a deeper look into the history and origin of this humanoid marital artist and her family feud with the Golden Dragon!
 
Sneak Peak at Batman: Year One, the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie
 
Behind-the-Scenes look at All-Star Superman
 
Green Lantern Digital Comic Book
 
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COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

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1 
lazerman 6/5/2011 10:20:04 AM

GL is my Second Fave Superhero right after SUPERMAN, and this is just wetting my appitite for the REAL deal when we FINALLY see GREEN LANTERN on the Big Screen June 17th!

 

WE ARE THE CORPS!  :-P

wish 6/6/2011 9:34:42 AM

Sounds like they cast the voices from the silver medalist pool of the motion picture's casting choices!

I'd love to see a film with those actors in thier respective roles!!

ponyboy76 6/8/2011 3:56:11 AM

Watched this last night. It was pretty good. The story with Abin-Sur and Atrocitus was my favorite with the Kilowag story next.  My problem with this whole flick is that they kind of just circumvented First Flight, having Hal Jordan and Sinestro working together and actually being pretty cordial to each other given their history. It seems like they did this just for the sake of the full feature GL coming out. 

That being said, I'm not a huge DC reader so maybe Hal and Sinestro were friends at one time before he went all Sinestro Corp on them.

 

 

MrJawbreakingEquilibrium 6/8/2011 8:37:38 PM

Me,.either, Pony but from what I've heard is that Sinestro might have been his friend and mentor. I know he was good at one point.

goldeneyez 6/9/2011 6:24:18 AM

Ponyboy, with the exception of the two Superman/Batman DC direct animation films, none of them share the same continuity.  Each story is set in it's own encapsulated world, so that's my guess as to why they circumvented First Flight.

Chopsaki 6/10/2011 3:27:13 PM

After the less then stellar All-Star Superman this is a welcomed entry. I really loved the Laira Omoto story not only for the single combat moments but also that it was a more personal story with her own family as the enemy. Bring on the GL movie!

DaForce1 6/12/2011 2:39:38 PM

 The Warner Bros. animators and writers are of a much higher caliber than the Warner Bros. screenwriters and film makers (Nolan excluded). So to translate what is done in the animated features to what is done in the live-action features is essentially apples and oranges. Emerald Knights will in no way be indicative of how the live-action Green Lantern movie will be. Mainly due to the fact that these Warner Bros. animated features of DC properties are all overseen by Bruce Timm, while the Warner Bros. live-action DC-related movies are overseen by various studio execs that could care less about the properties except that comic book movies are hot right now. And this is the reason why Marvel Studios is owning Warner Bros. in the box office right now. 

If Warner Bros. assembled a DC Studios and put one person in charge (like Marvel did with Kevin Feige) that actually understood comics AND movies and how to put the two together successfully, then they might actually get their shit together and be able to release movies that would be all of the same caliber and on the same page. Until then, their live action movies are going to be hit and (mostly) miss. 

tjanson 6/13/2011 12:26:19 PM

I think Warner Bros. really needs to get past superman and batman.  Marvel proved they could get past Spider-man and X-men and develop other characters onscreen.  They were not always successful (Ghost Rider) but at least they tried.  I mean why the hell was there a Jonah hex movie before there was a Green lantern or Flash film?

1 

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