Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is an all-new DC Universe Animated Original Movie that weaves six interlocking stories of the Green Lantern Corps’ rich mythology around preparations for an attack by an ancient enemy. As the battle approaches, Hal Jordan (voiced by Nathan Fillion, Castle) mentors new recruit Arisia (Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men) in the history of the Green Lantern Corps, telling tales of Avra (the first Green Lantern) and several of Hal’s comrades – including Abin Sur, Kilowog, Laira and Mogo. In the end, Arisia must rise to the occasion to help Hal, Sinestro and the entire Green Lantern Corps save the universe from the destructive forces of Krona.
The premise of
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is a fairly simple one. Under attack by Krona, the Corps on Oa are forced to prepare to go to war with the deadly villain in order to combat his latest scheme. While all of this is going on, rookie Arisia Raab is told a series of stories by Hal Jordan about the history of the Corps and a few of their most prominent members.
The first tells the story of the beginning of the Corps. Set to be released alongside the live action movie, this was a great way of introducing and explaining the origin of both their formation and how the powers of the rings actually work. As a fairly new reader to the character myself, I found this both interesting and helpful, despite not knowing just how closely to the comic books it was. Up next was a look back to Kilowog's days as a trainee. This was perhaps the most fun story out of the five and again was a fantastic introduction to the characters background - something I'm sure there won't be time to explore in the movie. Of course, I should point out that this feature has no relation to either that or the upcoming animated series, but there is no doubt that it's being used as a tool to introduce people to the Green Lantern universe and the many characters who inhabit it that are completely unknown in comparison to those connected to the likes of Superman and Batman.
My least favourite story had to be the one which focused on Laira. I'm sure fans of hers will find the tale of her returning to her home world an interesting one, and while the story wasn't bad, I ended up finding it rather forgettable. It did however contain some of the most exciting action sequences and was far from boring. The next was a fun take on Mogo, and while the premise was perhaps a little more simplistic than the others, I think that it'll be the fans in particular who most get a kick out of seeing this. The final short was something that fans of Geoff Johns run on the book will absolutely love. Featuring Abin Sur, Sinestro and a surprise character who I won't mention here, it was perhaps my favourite of the five. Featuring several Easter eggs which have been more heavily features in Johns' run, I find it hard to imagine any fan not loving this, while new fans should easily be able to keep up.
Between each of the above mentioned stories, the main plot progresses nicely and the five were subtly and cleverly interwoven at the right times without feeling forced or unnecessary. In fact, they help advance the main story and help make the whole thing far more interesting than if it had just been a series of shorts and nothing more. The scripts throughout this and the rest of the stories is strong, and this should come as no surprise, especially as I spotted writing credits for Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons and Marc Guggenheim among others afterwards.
The voice cast is superb. Nathan Fillion makes for a great Hal Jordan and he delivers Hal's lines perfectly. This should of course be some consolation to those of you who were hoping to see him cast in the role for the live action adaptation. Jason Isaac's Sinestro is another solid casting choice and like Mark Strong, he really brings the character to life in a way that in sure we all imagine the character talks while reading the comic books. Arnold Vosloo as Abin Sur, Kelly Hu as Laira and Wade Williams as Deegan all put in decent, if somewhat unremarkable, work as their respective characters. Perhaps the only really disappointing member of the voice cast was Henry Rollins as Kilowog. There was nothing at all wrong with his performance, but it's just not how I expected the character to sound. I think I just always imagined Kilowog with a gruffer voice, rather than Rollins’ almost youthful sounding tones. It’s
Mad Men star Elizabeth Moss who stands out though, as she delivers a fantastic performance as Arisia. She easily portrays the characters naivety and vulnerability as well as her newfound confidence at a later stage in the animated feature. It’s thanks to this that the character becomes so easy to care about (especially as Hal Jordan doesn’t really the main focus) and should enable new and old fans alike to become invested in her journey.
The animation is very similar to past DC animated movies, and while this is sometimes a little basic for my liking, I know it’s popular among fans of their past features so I doubt that there will be anyone too unhappy with it. The only time that the movie suffers because of this is during the appearance of any of the ring constructs. They end up looking a little unexciting and bland, but this is a minor fault in a movie that otherwise is full of action packed and excited scenes.
As some of you may know, I'm not a huge fan of animated features, but with
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, even I find it hard to find all that much to complain about. Fans of DC’s past animated features will love it, while I believe it also serves as being a perfect jumping on point for anyone not familiar with the character who’s interested in learning a little more about the Green Lantern universe before the live action movie is released. A strong voice cast and some exciting scenes ensure that this will probably be viewed as one of their best features for a long time to come. So, for those of you who enjoy these types of movies or simply want to get better acquainted with Hal Jordan and the other Corps, I’d definitely advise picking this up when it hits shelves on DVD and Blu-Ray this June!