Lanterns Review!

Alright! Today I'm reviewing the newest chapter in the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, the HBO show Lanterns, which stars Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as the official Green Lanterns of Earth. After reciving a mysterious message from Rushville, Nebraska, Hal Jordan (Chandler) reluctantly brings his trainee John Stewart (Pierre) into a complicated web of deceit liable to unravel at any moment. 

Lanterns is not what anyone expected from the first live-action Green Lantern project since 2011's infamous Green Lantern; gone are the cosmic elements, costumes, and most of the projections, with the tone being a decidedly grimmer crime drama set in small-town Nebraska. This means there is no Oa, Kilowog, red and silver manhunters, blue Guardians, or space battles - eg, all the things the Green Lanterns are known for. There's five minutes of projections in the entire season, most of which are small, handheld items. If you're looking for an epic space adventure with cool new planets or even curious about how the DCU will adapt the look of Green Lantern, this is not the show for you. 

But, if you can move past all that - and it's understandable if you can't - Lanterns is actually a very solid, gripping, and tragic series carried by the affable Kyle Chandler that does some things great, some things not as well, and some things really well. It solves DC's biggest Green Lantern question: "Why are there so many human Green Lanterns?" by introducing a rule stating there can only be one (Which is then tossed between Hal, John, and Guy). It might get complicated if Kyle Rayner, Jessica Cruz, or Simon Baz ever show up, but for the time being it works and it works consistently. 

Within its own terms, Lanterns might actually be fantastic - the lead actors are compelling, the mystery is involving, the reimagining of the Green Lanterns lore is well done, and the episodes are meaty. It makes sense that it attracted the viewership that it did and inspired several internet memes; it also maintains DC's television dominance and HBO's quality programming. 

The best part of the series by far and away - and the biggest reason to watch, mind you - is Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan. In a world full of well-written characters, Kyle Chandler feels the most real. His mannerisms, subtle drawl, vocal inflections, wardrobe, scrappy nature, unkempt hair - all of it is superb. The series starts off with his murder, so you learn pretty quickly to appreciate all the time he's on screen, and when you have to say goodbye, it's the most devastating comic book death since Yondu. 

The other lead, Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, is also great - although he's given significantly less to work with. John is the straight man to Hal's chaotic good, and his backstory is written to give him an overly serious, dramatic personality. Aaron Pierre is a terrific actor able to headline his own series, but I do question how a season two would work without a Kyle Chandler to bounce off of. He does, however, look exactly like the John Stewart from the comics - built like a tank with an angular face and green eyes. As someone whose favorite cartoon as a kid was Justice League Unlimited, he's exactly how I imagined John Stewart in live action - and it probably helps that they directly lifted his wardrobe. 

The supporting cast fills out nicely, with especially good performances from Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro, Poorna Jagannathan as the manhunter, and Kelly Macdonald as Kerry Kane; I also liked Shea Pritchard as Noah Macon. Lanterns is a great example of an otherwise "pretty good" script being elevated by gifted performers. 

But above all else, what I loved most about Lanterns was the emotional finale. For a moment, I thought the show would pivot and go balls-to-the-walls WandaVision style and abandon everything that made it special for an epic CGI laser fight between John Stewart and Sinestro; I am overjoyed to say it did not do that. Lanterns instead has an intimate, character-driven finale with good payoffs and emotional goodbyes, as well as the most exciting superhero introduction in a long time. Seeing John Stewart finally don the ring and say his oath was a truly memorable experience and well-earned; you almost want to cheer as he flies away (but are stopped by the awkward wire work). 

I was amazed that they had actually pulled off stripping everything Green Lanterns away from the show and still having it feel like an honest Green Lantern experience, and it was here that Tom King 's invovlement made sense to me - Tom King is the co-creater of the show and one of DC's best comic writers, notorious for unconventionally deconstructing characters: Woman of Tomorrow sees Supergirl get blackout drunk and extremely depressed over Krypton, but it unlocks some of the heroine's most heroic moments; Mister Miracle killing himself on the first page is dark, but spending the rest of the series trying to find death or escape life is his greatest feat yet. So taking the Green Lanterns - known for cosmic space adventures - and placing them in a small-scale True Detectives series in Nebraska - well, it just makes sense. 

There were a few aspects of the show that were unnecessary, however, and this is where I point at HBO's arbitrary TV-MA "prestige" television label. Lanterns is not dark, it is serious, and what little gore there is could be edited out with zero effect. The only things keeping it TV-MA are the frequent language, random sex scene in the pilot episode, and infrequent male nudity; none of these things were necessary or improve the quality of the show. I'm especially critical since this isn't Deadpool or The Suicide Squad or some other antihero/villainous character; this is Green Lantern - y'know, the Justice League member from a children's comic book. There's no reason at all for this to be anything but TV-14, even if I did enjoy the granny memes. 

But at least we'll get My Adventures with Green Lantern soon! That should be much more "Green Lantern"-y. 

Overall, I give Lanterns an 8/10. "No granny shall escape my sight." 

I can't believe they only wore the suit ONE TIME. ONE TIME.