Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Green Lantern - Beware My Power; here's the breakdown of my ratings:
Story: 1.50
Direction: 1.50
Pace: 1.50
Acting: 1.00
Enjoyment: 1.25
TOTAL: 6.75 out of 10.00
DC Comics have made some errors in their progression onto the screen. In all honesty, their series of the nineties and naughties were far superior to anything that has come after. There have been some exceptions to the rules, and GL-Beware My Power is one of them. Though, it shouldn't be, as it bastardises other DC storylines to bring you a newly rehashed origin story of the John Stewart Green Lantern.
The writers of this little masterpiece have stolen stories from throughout the DC Universe. You have the Rann and Thanagarian War - The Sinestro Corp - and Parallax. Any of these storylines would have made a decent movie in its own right. However, Ernie Altbacker and John Semper weave an intriguing story out of those stories' primary elements. Sadly, by doing so they destroy the chances of those superior stories making it to the screen, as they have totally reshaped the continuity (the writers' first fundamental mistake) - something DC is excellent at doing in their Crisis stories. This John Stewart is a cold-blooded killer. At the story's beginning, we see him stationed in an overseas warzone. He is a sniper who thinks nothing of killing the enemy. And that is the second significant mistake the writers make. This John Stewart has more issues than Guy Gardner, who at least fights his anger and fast temper. After leaving the marines, he has trouble readjusting to life on civvy street. We watch as he nearly snaps a guy's neck for trying to ask him to move aside. If it wasn't for the bum, he saves from getting his ass incinerated by a couple of well-intentioned thugs, we'd be hard pushed to see the goodness in the man. And in all truth, it makes little sense for the Guardians Of Oa to choose this John Stewart as a Green Lantern. Altbacker and Semper's GL is so different from the original that it alters how he controls the ring and creates his constructs. Bemused about what he should do, the ring flies him up to the JL Watchtower, where he meets the members on watch - Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, and Vixen. They come up with the idea of visiting Oa so John can learn how to remove the ring, once and for all. However, on their arrival on the planet, they find the Lanterns and the city destroyed. All signs lead them to believe it has something to do with the Rann and Thangarians. So off they fly in search of the truth. But the truth is twisted and dark... One of the worst things the writers do is to condense the Parallax story to a pitifully short timeline. And for a creature that is so powerful, they defeat it too easily. This corruption of the story, though, it works with the writers' tale, had me hanging my head and shaking it in negativity. It's the writer's third underlying mistake.
Jeff Wamester keeps things moving at a cracking pace - we hop through the story like a frog on crack. Keeping the pace at this accelerated tempo is ideal as it keeps the story moving and gives the audience less time to think about the story elements or the differences in the primary characters - Green Arrow doesn't come off as arrogant and self-assured as he should be. As for the animation techniques and styles, well we are back on familiar ground. The artists stick to DC's relatively blocky style, but what has improved is their use of CGI. In previous films, the CGI sections stuck out like a freshly hammered sore thumb. They appear smoother and less conspicuous now but are still a few metres away from perfection.
The voice acting isn't great. In truth, most of the cast could do with taking a refresher course on adding emotion to their vocal performances. Many superheroes come across as wimpy and whiney, especially Hal Jordan (Nolan North), Green Arrow (Jimmi Simpson), and Adam Strange (Brian Bloom). Even Aldis Hodge, who I regarded as a strong up-and-comer after watching him in Leverage, slips the new Green Lantern into the mawngy zone several times.
Though this Green Lantern tale is purloined from several other principal stories, it works. As such, I am happy to recommend it to any Sci-Fi Fantasy Comic Book fan who wants something enjoyable and entertaining to waste an hour and a half. I would highly recommend reading the "Borrowed" stories and the original John Stewart origin story as they all surpass this hashed-and-mashed-up work.
Now Parallax has been defeated in such an easy-peasy and handy-dandy manner, come on over and check out my Holding Out For A Hero, The Final Frontier, and Obsidian Dreams lists to see where I ranked Green Lantern - Beware My Power.
Take Care & Stay Well.
