Lanterns Episode 1 SPOILER Review
The DCU is continuing, this time we have a tv show that introduces the Green Lanterns into this universe. This is a show that I was interested in, because it is introducing some of the more popular characters into this universe and when it was described as True Detective with Green Lanterns in the DC universe, that sounded awesome to me! So last night the first episode of the show premiered, and here is what I thought!
NOTE: It says this in the title, but this will be a SPOILER review for the first episode. If you have seen the episode, you know exactly why there is going to be spoilers.
The Review
In general, I thought the first episode of Lanterns was quite good. I didn’t think it was fantastic, or anything like that but I liked it and it made me curious to see where this show goes, especially with where this episode ends it’s a truly shocking cliffhanger that’s not exactly what I was expecting, but it’s the type of cliffhanger that makes you go “well that’s interesting,” I guess since it’s a spoiler review, there’s no need to beat around the bush, Hal Jordan is dead at the end of this episode. There were a lot of rumors that Hal was going to die given some of the dialogue shown in the trailer. But I was not expecting Hal Jordan to die at the end of the first episode. I am very curious to see where this goes and if Jordan is dead. It is a very bold move to kill off one of your Green Lanterns, a very prominent Green Lantern within an hour of meeting him. I hope the season pays all of this off well by the end, because if not I could see this show not working if they do not earn killing off Hal Jordan at the beginning.
At this moment, it fits some of the themes and ideas established in the show. Where it is about legacy, where when we meet Jordan and John Stewart in the present, they are already working together. It is a fun dynamic between the two of them, because there is a respect for one another even when the other person frustrates them. Specifically with how Stewart views Jordan, there is even a conversation between Jordan and a sheriff where he talks about how he does respect him even though he is frustrated with him. There is this interesting dynamic there and it makes the cliffhanger hit even harder. The reason for that is because to the audience, we do not really know where Stewart is at in his training, so he must be the one to step into action and figure out what is going on and why Jordan is dead. From there, there are even a lot of themes exploring this idea of fear, where Stewart’s introduction sort of lays this out where he was born to be scared and not to fear things. Who is Green Lantern’s greatest enemy, Sinestro and the Yellow Lanterns who are all about fear. So, you can see how all these themes and ideas tie well into the Green Lantern lore and characters. That was the kind of the aspect that surprised me most about the episode was just how thematically rich it was.
From there, our two lead performances here with Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart are both great in their respective roles. I am not as familiar with Kyle Chandler as a lot of other people are. I have not seen Friday Night Lights, the tv show he was on that really broke him into stardom. But I have seen him in several things over the years, and he is always a solid performer which means that he is good in this movie. He is fun and charming to the public, where Green Lantern is this celebrity and when he is interacting with fans, you buy his performance. But when he is having the most human with John Stewart, you explore this aging hero that is training a new generation, and you also buy him as that. While the episode is only like an hour long, you feel like you understand a lot about Hal Jordan and who he is as this character. From there, Aaron Pierre as John Stewart is good. Pierre is one of these up and comers over the last several years. It seemed like a lot of people learned who he was with Rebel Ridge a couple of years back, I still have not seen that movie. But he was also cast in Mufasa: The Lion King and then he’s John Stewart, and Stewart is in Man of Tomorrow next year and he is also joining Star Wars. Hollywood wants this guy to be the next big movie star. Both together have great chemistry as this mentor and mentee dynamic.
After the first episode, there was not a lot that I disliked. Sometimes it is tough to find the negatives in an episode, but you can notice the issues as the season goes along. By the end of the season, I will look back on the first episode and notice more issues. One thing that I will say so far, is that side characters are not the most interesting. They seem a bit one note to me; there was not anything about them that really stood out. So, I hope that as the season goes along, their characters are developed more and fleshed out. But as of right now, I am not fully feeling the side characters. Yet again, this is only one episode, and we have seven more episodes to learn more about them and like them more.
Comments