I have never been a major fan of the Green lantern Corp, sure i read some comics and i liked John Stewart from the justice league unlimited show, but i was never intrigued enough to look further into them, until l I watched this show. Ever since I first caught this show on cartoon network I have been fascinated by the lore and concepts of not just the green lantern Corp but all of the different colored corps. The first chance I got I bought the complete series on DVD and ive watched it many times, but I have finally decided to give a review on the show as a whole.
The Story: Starting off Season 1 we are introduced the Red lantern corp, led by Atrocitus, desiring to kill every green lantern in frontier space, they desire to conquer the known galaxy and destroy OA the home world of the guardians and the green lanterns. We are then introduced to the titular green lantern, Hal Jordan, who hears of this imminent invasion , and desires to take an experimental spaceship capable of interstellar travel and go to the frontier before the invasion can occur. Unfortunately this is a one way trip, and HAl and his crewmates must travel back to OA, all the while facing new and old alien threats. The show takes some of the best themes from other sci fi franchises such as Star wars, Lost in Space, star trek, and stargate, all the while constructing and introducing it own Mythos. While some episodes are predictable, seeing different alien planets and creatures is always engaging. I am very grateful that Earth was not used too much in this show but purely takes place in deep space, which is fresh air since every other superhero show takes place mainly on Earth. The threat of the red lanterns is great, and the show gets darker with the tension increasing to the final battle. 8/10
Season 2 starts off kind of dull, with the new threat being the Anti monitor and the manhunters desiring to end all life that feels emotions in the galaxy. Sure there is some fun action, but it gets quite tiresome due to repetitive fights with the manhunters, UNTIL....(SPOILER!) the green lanterns comrade and razors love interest, Aya goes to the dark side by shutting off her emotions, killing the anti monitor and taking his place as the new villain of the season. Despite AYA having the same goal as the anti monitor, having her being the new villain is so much more emotional not just for the audience but also for the characters. Desiring to travel back to the beginning of time, to prevent life from ever happening, we are given a excellent final showdown that is not just about action but its about profound debates over existence and if life is worth having if pain will always accompany it. 9/10
Characters: Growing up i only knew the green lantern Joh n Stewart, so i never cared about Hal, well this show rectified that. Hal Jordan is portrayed so charismatic and likeable in this series that hes now one of my favorite superheroes, his conviction to do what is right is great. He makes mistakes but he always try's to correct those mistakes, and is not afraid to say that he is wrong, he purely wants to help his friend's and loved ones and would do anything to help them. Kilowog has never been interesting to me in any other movie or show, but this show successfully makes him likeable and Kevin Michael Richardson's voice really is a match made in heaven for the character. Razor is original character made for the show, like zuko from avatar we see razor go from a hatefilled red lantern to a honorouble hero who still has to deal with a lot of eternal conflict, especially surrounding his romance with AYA, which is handled extremely well . AYA is a very unique character, also an original character for the show, she starts out as the AI navigation computer for the green lantern space ship, but she is able to interact with the characters by creating a voluptuous robotic body. AYA comes to care for Razor and eventually falls in love with him, having difficulty understanding her newfound emotions. The concepts of her deciding if she is just a machine or truly alive is vey compelling. AYA literally steals the show in season 2, with her romance with razor becoming the main focus of the plot, on a galaxy wide scale. There are so many great characters that add so much nuance to this show like saint walker, atrocitus, the guardians, Carol Ferris, Ghia'ta, Guy Gardner and so many others. There is a great dynamic between the lead characters, that creates tension and drama. While the melodrama can be apparent at times, these feel like real people despite their cartoony appearances. Thanks to excellent character development and great writing these characters come to life in this space epic.
The Animation: Back when this show came out I hated the cg animation, most because i loved the 2d animation of the rest of the DCAU, and felt that the cg looked weird. CG animation for television can sometimes be handled pretty well or pretty bad, this show has some poor cgi but most of the time it looks good. There are even times when the effects look semi realistic and surreal such as the beginning of time/ hand of God scene or during the action scenes. I feel the animation really works for the constructs of the lanterns, being fast paced and having kinetic energy. While im still not the biggest fan of the CG, i couldnt imagine watching this show without it now.
Conclusion: Every time I hear the green lantern oath i feel so inspired and happy, and after watching this show in its entirety i feel even more joy. Many concepts shown in this series are very profound such as the lore of the lantern corps. There are a lot of concepts here that weren't allowed fully developed, like Sinestro and his corps never becoming a major threat, or getting to see all the other lantern corps. Which is why I believe a third season was planned, that would have shown the other corps. The show ends with razor going on a quest to find some trace of AYA, with a blue lantern ring following close behind him, leaving the show open ended, and creating frustration for fans like myself, who desire a more satisfying ending with just one more season. But I digress, this series is still the best green lantern animated adaption of the comics. Characters are likeable , they have witty and profound dialogue, the story is action packed and emotional , the action being both fun and exciting, the romance between razor and aya will get you giddy, the show is positively addicting when your doing a binge watch, i finished the entire series in one week. There is just so much to love about this series.
In Brightest day or in Blackest night this show is the Best.
The Story: Starting off Season 1 we are introduced the Red lantern corp, led by Atrocitus, desiring to kill every green lantern in frontier space, they desire to conquer the known galaxy and destroy OA the home world of the guardians and the green lanterns. We are then introduced to the titular green lantern, Hal Jordan, who hears of this imminent invasion , and desires to take an experimental spaceship capable of interstellar travel and go to the frontier before the invasion can occur. Unfortunately this is a one way trip, and HAl and his crewmates must travel back to OA, all the while facing new and old alien threats. The show takes some of the best themes from other sci fi franchises such as Star wars, Lost in Space, star trek, and stargate, all the while constructing and introducing it own Mythos. While some episodes are predictable, seeing different alien planets and creatures is always engaging. I am very grateful that Earth was not used too much in this show but purely takes place in deep space, which is fresh air since every other superhero show takes place mainly on Earth. The threat of the red lanterns is great, and the show gets darker with the tension increasing to the final battle. 8/10
Season 2 starts off kind of dull, with the new threat being the Anti monitor and the manhunters desiring to end all life that feels emotions in the galaxy. Sure there is some fun action, but it gets quite tiresome due to repetitive fights with the manhunters, UNTIL....(SPOILER!) the green lanterns comrade and razors love interest, Aya goes to the dark side by shutting off her emotions, killing the anti monitor and taking his place as the new villain of the season. Despite AYA having the same goal as the anti monitor, having her being the new villain is so much more emotional not just for the audience but also for the characters. Desiring to travel back to the beginning of time, to prevent life from ever happening, we are given a excellent final showdown that is not just about action but its about profound debates over existence and if life is worth having if pain will always accompany it. 9/10
Characters: Growing up i only knew the green lantern Joh n Stewart, so i never cared about Hal, well this show rectified that. Hal Jordan is portrayed so charismatic and likeable in this series that hes now one of my favorite superheroes, his conviction to do what is right is great. He makes mistakes but he always try's to correct those mistakes, and is not afraid to say that he is wrong, he purely wants to help his friend's and loved ones and would do anything to help them. Kilowog has never been interesting to me in any other movie or show, but this show successfully makes him likeable and Kevin Michael Richardson's voice really is a match made in heaven for the character. Razor is original character made for the show, like zuko from avatar we see razor go from a hatefilled red lantern to a honorouble hero who still has to deal with a lot of eternal conflict, especially surrounding his romance with AYA, which is handled extremely well . AYA is a very unique character, also an original character for the show, she starts out as the AI navigation computer for the green lantern space ship, but she is able to interact with the characters by creating a voluptuous robotic body. AYA comes to care for Razor and eventually falls in love with him, having difficulty understanding her newfound emotions. The concepts of her deciding if she is just a machine or truly alive is vey compelling. AYA literally steals the show in season 2, with her romance with razor becoming the main focus of the plot, on a galaxy wide scale. There are so many great characters that add so much nuance to this show like saint walker, atrocitus, the guardians, Carol Ferris, Ghia'ta, Guy Gardner and so many others. There is a great dynamic between the lead characters, that creates tension and drama. While the melodrama can be apparent at times, these feel like real people despite their cartoony appearances. Thanks to excellent character development and great writing these characters come to life in this space epic.
The Animation: Back when this show came out I hated the cg animation, most because i loved the 2d animation of the rest of the DCAU, and felt that the cg looked weird. CG animation for television can sometimes be handled pretty well or pretty bad, this show has some poor cgi but most of the time it looks good. There are even times when the effects look semi realistic and surreal such as the beginning of time/ hand of God scene or during the action scenes. I feel the animation really works for the constructs of the lanterns, being fast paced and having kinetic energy. While im still not the biggest fan of the CG, i couldnt imagine watching this show without it now.
Conclusion: Every time I hear the green lantern oath i feel so inspired and happy, and after watching this show in its entirety i feel even more joy. Many concepts shown in this series are very profound such as the lore of the lantern corps. There are a lot of concepts here that weren't allowed fully developed, like Sinestro and his corps never becoming a major threat, or getting to see all the other lantern corps. Which is why I believe a third season was planned, that would have shown the other corps. The show ends with razor going on a quest to find some trace of AYA, with a blue lantern ring following close behind him, leaving the show open ended, and creating frustration for fans like myself, who desire a more satisfying ending with just one more season. But I digress, this series is still the best green lantern animated adaption of the comics. Characters are likeable , they have witty and profound dialogue, the story is action packed and emotional , the action being both fun and exciting, the romance between razor and aya will get you giddy, the show is positively addicting when your doing a binge watch, i finished the entire series in one week. There is just so much to love about this series.
In Brightest day or in Blackest night this show is the Best.