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The problem with anthology films is that they sometimes insist on creating a thin narrative to wrap their short stories up in a neat bow at the end. And so Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, which would be a great name for a TV series, crafts a looming threat and leaves the last ten minutes, or so, to witnessing the entirety of the Green Lantern Corps destroying the big-baddie.
The problem with any anthology film is that it’s hard to craft engaging and interesting stories for each of the segments, there’s always bound to be some that just aren’t very good. But this problem is particularly bad with Emerald Knights as the entire film feels like an extended pilot episodes for a series that never got made. C’mon now, even The Simpsons dropped the wraparound narrative for their “Treehouse of Horror” episodes. The overarching story would have been more successful as its own series, seeing Hal Jordan take a newbie under his guidance and helping them develop their skills all the while they’re introduced to the wider world at large sounds like fertile material. So where did it go wrong? It’s not an introduction to an animated series; it was released in conjunction with the failed attempt at a feature-length live action film. I guess this was to help explain some of the universe and characters to those who were fresh to the material?
The point is, it’s only interesting by half. Namely the segments focusing in on Avra, Kilowog and Abin Sur. Avra’s story alone would have made a great twenty-two minute episode explaining the origins of the Lantern Corps, why the color green was chosen, etc. It’s a successful short film, but there’s a wealth of information to process and characters to expand upon. With a universe as diverse and interesting in the Green Lantern comics, I don’t know why DC/WB don’t try to make more of these films about it instead of going back-and-forth between the well represented Batman and Superman stories. Sure, we got tiny glimpses in Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, the brief animated series and the live action film, but there’s still more to explore and examine. And for that matter, why haven’t we explored the mythologies of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Flash and everyone else seemingly who isn’t Batman or Superman? It just seems unfair.
