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Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
By Jeffrey M. Anderson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Violent, animated superhero movie with thoughtful messages.
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Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
Community Reviews
Based on 4 parent reviews
Green Lantern Emerald Knights - PG - 2011
What's the Story?
Upon hearing about an impending attack by the giant Krona, the Guardians of the Universe begin evacuating their home planet. The Green Lantern of Earth (voiced by Nathan Fillion) is mentoring a young recruit, Arisia (Elisabeth Moss), and takes the opportunity to tell her several stories of other members of the Green Lantern Corps. Green Lantern Laira (Kelly Hu) must face her warlord father; a cosmic bully tries to find and fight the most fearsome Green Lantern of all, Mogo; and Sinestro (Jason Isaacs) and Abin Sur (Arnold Vosloo) have a disagreement about destiny. Can Arisia learn enough from these stories to help with the current situation?
Is It Any Good?
At first, GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD KNIGHTS suffers from too many characters and not enough character development. Even the main hero, Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern from Earth, only appears for a fraction of the entire running time. Likewise, most of the early episodes seem to be about fighting, which is violent, and -- in an effort to avoid too much gore -- repetitive.
But as the movie goes on, the individual stories become more thoughtful and entertaining; the highlight is the tale of "Bolphunga the Unrelenting" and his search for Mogo. Eventually, the stories begin to rely on simple, clever solutions rather than violent ones. Even the characters begin to emerge as comrades and partners; their teamwork becomes the focus. Working with at least eight writers, three different directors manage to instill the movie with a cohesive look and impressive style.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the movie's fighting and violence. How intense is it? Is it exciting or overwhelming? How does the movie achieve these effects?
Some of the characters in the movie learn hard lessons, such as never to judge a book by its cover or to try to do the right thing even if your family says differently. Which lesson hits you the hardest? Do you agree or disagree with the movie?
What does it mean to be able to overcome fear? Is it possible to make fear go away? What is the purpose of fear?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: June 7, 2011
- Cast: Elisabeth Moss , Jason Isaacs , Nathan Fillion
- Directors: Chris Berkeley , Jay Oliva , Lauren Montgomery
- Inclusion Information: Female actors
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Topics: Superheroes , Adventures
- Run time: 84 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG
- MPAA explanation: sci-fi action violence throughout, and for some language
- Last updated: July 10, 2023
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