Review: Green Lantern: TAS "Beware my Power"

Much like with Ultimate Spider-Man, the two-part premiere is written in such a way that I can't really judge the show fairly until we get to what will be the status quo in episode 2, but I can still examine the various aspects of the show so far.

So, yeah, I'ma do that mess now.

Animation
Gorgeous. Just... sweet Galactus.

You know, I always though that Thor was more beautiful of a movie than Avatar. There. I said it. For one simple reason. The cosmos. I am an absolute sucker for glowy, sparkling, star-filled space. Yes, it's rather unrealistic, but holy crap is it beautiful. I have fond memories of Treasure Planet for the same reason. Ethereal, luminescent infinity is something I've always found beautiful, and this show presents outer space in an indescribable way.

As for character designs and such, they work surprisingly well. You wouldn't think that Bruce Timm's blocky 2-D style would translate so well, but there you have it.

Of course, the CGI has a few rough patches here and there, but that's to be expected from TV-budget CGI. On the whole, it's really not that noticeable. I've heard people say that the CGI of Beware the Batman is downright hideous compared to GL:TAS. Now that I've come back to this show for these Recaps and Reviews, I don't completely agree, but I understand the argument so much better. I forgot how good-looking this show could be. But enough gushing, let's move on.

Plot
Not that much, to be honest.

Evil Red Lanterns start killing Green Lanterns.
Hal and Kilowog, after a fashion, steal a ship to come to the rescue.
They rescue one.

But it doesn't feel like a bare-bones plot, and that's because it's bumped up by the real point of this episode. This episode is about introducing the characters and the situation. I feel like the situation might be a little confusing to newcomers, though. I jumped right in thanks to my familiarity to the source material, but the way things are just jumped right into in some places with little explanation (let's face it, this episode doesn't tell the audience what the Guardians actually do, details about what the Corps does, how the rings work...), but I don't think this show is necessarily impenetrable to newbies. You just have to want to get into it.

But where this episode shines is in introducing characters. Within ten seconds of meeting a character, you know exactly where they stand. Let's take a look at that next.

Characters

Hal Jordan  
I'd say his defining moment was when he corrected Appa Ali Apsa that he headbutted the viceroy. Hal lives by a strict code:

Good guys get helped.
Bad guys get punished.

None of this "morally grey" crap for Hal. If you're a dirtbag, you pay for it in accordance with Galactic Law. It doesn't matter how many fancy titles you've got. He does what his gut tells him is right at any given moment, even when his gut says "Flying this jet too fast is AWESOME!"

When it comes to safety, it's obvious that he really has no fear. Of punishment, of pain, of death.

Basically, he's Malcolm Reynolds with a ring. Headstrong, heart of gold, nice guy, laid back, and someone you do not want to cross.

Carol Ferris  
The love interest. I hate to say it, but she's not important now, and will barely be important during the series. Yes, I could bring up the plot points she'll get involved with, or rant a bit about the Bechdel Test, but I'm not going to spend more time on this character than the writers did. Moving on.

Kilowog
The Chewbacca to Hal's Han Solo. The big guy with the heart of gold. Sure, they might have made him into more brawn than brain (though he's not running on fumes in the intelligence department, per se), but dammit, he's a good cop! If Hal's the young and wisecracking part of this police duo, then Kilowog's the one getting too old for this dren. He's the yin to Hal's yang, the brawn to Hal's brain, the tank to Hal's archer, the cheese to Hal's macaroni, you get the idea.

Aya
...she's a computer voice. And for now, that is all. For now.

Guardians of the Universe
Well, not really of "the Universe" in this show. See, in the comics, the Guardians really do have the Lanterns police the whole universe. And with 3200 space sectors, with around one Lantern per sector, that means that each Lantern is in charge of monitoring 0.0003125% of infinity. In this show, we see that their range is much smaller, and are probably more like the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Although the name is already taken.

We see that, being an omniscient council, they're prone to infighting. We even get to see two that stand out. Appa Ali Apsa (the jerk) and Ganthet (the laid back one). These characters will get a bit more definition than "Hal's bosses" come later episodes. 

Red Lanterns
Who are they? What's their goal? Who's their leader? We'll find out next time.

Next time, the status quo will begin to coalesce. See you then!