Green Lantern: Méfiez-vous de mon pouvoir

The superhero movie Green Lantern: Beware My Power (2022) features John Stewart, a former Marine dealing with PTSD, and takes viewers on an exciting cosmic adventure. John is portrayed by Aldis Hodge as he struggles to reconcile his background with the enormous power that the Green Lantern ring has placed upon him. Hodge gives the role depth and gravitas. Another highlight is the animation, which features imaginative and well-executed action scenes that demonstrate the virtually endless possibilities of the Green Lantern's constructions. Compared to other DC animated films, Beware My Power has a more somber tone as it examines the psychological effects of combat trauma and the weight of having unfathomable power.

The animation looks really good during a lot of scenes but DC animation continues to be a decade behind in the way they budger the animation. Considering how good a lot of web series come out now it's high time they up their game. The story is all over the place with Thanagar-Rann war, John Stewart's origin story tweaking, Green Arrow going on a galaxy trotting quest and all the callbacks they can include. The twists are predictable but all these things are pretty much expected from these direct-to-video releases. But the pacing is perfect and there are a lot of moments that really invest you in the film. Being such an engaging film is what made the flaws look more apparent.

While it has its merits, it didn't completely win me over. On the positive side, the animation is quite well-executed. The visual effects are vibrant and bring the fantastical elements to life, providing a colorful and engaging backdrop for the story. The voice acting is also a highlight, with the cast delivering performances that add depth and personality to their characters.

However, the film struggles with several issues. The plot feels rather formulaic, lacking the originality and complexity that could have elevated it. The story follows a predictable trajectory, making it hard to stay invested in the outcome. Additionally, the character development is somewhat shallow, and the main protagonist doesn't evolve much beyond a typical hero's journey.

The pacing is another problem, with some scenes dragging on and others feeling rushed. This uneven rhythm can make the film feel disjointed at times. The villain is also underwhelming, failing to provide a compelling adversary for the hero's journey.

In summary, while the animation and voice work are commendable, the film ultimately falls short in terms of story and character development. It's a decent watch for fans of the genre, but it lacks the depth and excitement needed to make it truly memorable.

There was a lot going on in this movie. I looks great and voice acting was good. The pace is breakneack, but fun.

Jon Stewart is our GL this time and it is his fish out of water story. So naturally with such a character, you get a lot of heavy exposition, but I love lore.

This does however, make the movie feel bogged down in the sense of a traditional movie's pacing. They don't build their characters in the story, you'd have to be invested in these characters from prior material to even care. That can leave you feeling uncomfortable however, if one were to consider some consequences of this films plot.

It is a great 'what if' story to hypothetically reboot the GL corps. I've never read a GL comic with Jon Stewart so I cannot be sure if plot comic accurate, but it was a good enough origin. This movie wouldn't fit neatly into any other timelines, i know of. So if thats a super concern of yours walk away now.

The animation in the hand to hand fight scenes are great, space battles were a little run of the mill. I wish charcters were treated more like humans with visible emotiosn, rather than blank suits I recognize.

If you're not caught up on my lore, I have an unhealthy Green Lantern fixation on these characters. There'll be spoilers but I don't think anyone cares anymore.

What better way to start the movie than by killing off the entire corps, every guardian, and blowing up their planet. I remember seeing people on twitter complain so much how one of the guys in charge of this movie admitted he's only read a single John Stewart comic but I can't even blame him since everyone decided his personality consists of being a veteran and nothing else after the Justice League cartoons. John's a character defined by loss and they featured this in the worst way possible by emphasizing his military background; while the death of his wife and the destruction of Xanshi were events he couldn't stop, he willfully joined the military in a country people didn't even want him in. His architect background's not even mentioned even though it's a reason he was personally chosen by the guardians and no one else just like in the movie, in trying to fulfill the master builder prophecy and make a mortal guardian.

Instead they gave him Kyle Rayner's origin, added in Green Arrow for fan service (Hard-Traveling Heroes is a very good comic with Hal and Ollie), and kept emphasizing Hal was the greatest almost as a way to soften fan reaction when he gets killed at the end (and overpowered too for some reason by someone who had the ring for a few days). I guarantee you that stupid Rann-Thanagar war plot was only included so they could awkwardly tease him and Hawkgirl at the end despite them having no chemistry for the sake of the JL cartoons again. Adam Strange was altered a lot for the plot and every character to do with him became a plot device that got killed off when they fulfilled their purpose. They specified Adam's wife was dead but that his daughter was only missing but then they killed him off so the poor girl isn't getting found.

Parallax being included at all was always going to be controversial but I mostly hate how Sinestro became a mustache-twirling villain again. The 2000s comics were basically dedicated to fleshing out these two and now it's further cemented in people's minds that they're two-dimensional. What was the point of including Sinestro Corps members if they aren't using rings at all and why did they have to kill all of them?

It's a okay watch but the more I think about it the less it gets characters right. If you're into cookie-cutter superhero movies, you're probably in the right spot.