Green Lantern: Beware My Power (2022)

I didn't like it.

Now I didn't actually HATE it, and it wasn't really terrible or anything, but there were just a bunch of little things off that ruined it for me bit by bit.

I had been looking forward to exploring the origin story of John Stewart. In both animated projects I've seen him in (Justice League and Young Justice) he was already an established hero, and was never previously given an animated origin story. So I was looking forward to that.

But he's the guest star in his own movie. Once Hawkgirl and Adam Strange show up the movie becomes about them, and John is an afterthought. And once HAL shows up, it's a Parallax adaptation instead. John Stewart is no longer the starring Green Lantern of the piece. Evil Hal now is.

I also strongly dislike Hawkgirl. She's dumb. I understand not every DC interpretation needs to be the same, but Justice League version was Earthy and common-sense. And seeing somebody this violent and dumb in Maria Canals' stead really irks me. There's not even a HINT of a romance with John like in the Justice League cartoon, so her inclusion (as well as Vixen's) seems doubly pointless.

I will say this for her. I like that this is really the only other Hawkgirl interpretation besides Justice League that doesn't merely consider her Hawkman's doomed reincarnated lover. Yes, the character sucks in this version. But at least she's allowed to suck on her own terms and not be attached at the hip to a male lead. I like that much about her at least.

I liked the music in the main title. A lot. One of the few things in the movie I truly liked.

The fight in the Watchtower pissed me off. It's totally unnecessary. Not just because John is CLEARLY fighting with a Green Lantern ring, but Martian Manhunter is right there and should have immediately read his mind and intentions if he truly thought he was dangerous. It's the stupidest trope in superhero comics and cartoons, and it's SUCH a stupid trope I am always amused at the outrage fanboys have towards people who think comics are stupid kids stuff. As long as fans tolerate stuff like that, that's what they actually are. I'm sorry. That fact chaps your ass? Then tell creators to stop doing this crap. It's insulting to everybody's intelligence. This is why nobody takes us seriously. You can like superhero stuff if you want. For the most part, I tend to myself, as grumpy as I get. But I will never for one second begrudge somebody who thinks superhero comics, cartoons, and movies are juvenile. As long as this stuff exists, on some level they are. Which is why I'm unhappy. Comic book fans do NOT need to tolerate this. If they spoke up creators would listen and course correct. But you guys LIKE those fights. And as long as you guys do, yours is not an adult, serious fandom. I want it to be. I believe it can be. But too much crap is currently tolerated for me to pretend it qualifies as such now.

Man, I loved Watchmen. Why can't more comics be Watchmen? I don't mean dark, grim, and depressing. I mean intelligently written and seemingly timeless. Instead we get crap like Vixen noticing John's GL Uniform AFTER fighting his multiple GL constructs. It's a bit tiresome for me.

In fairness to this movie, I LIKE projects designed for kids. I always have and I feel no shame for that fact. But as long as that scene and scenes like it exist I refuse to consider the genre an adult one. It's unreasonable if someone demands I treat it as such after crap like that.

This next complaint was the thing that told me I'd probably wind up giving this a negative review. And it occurred so damn early, that I really did not like feeling like the movie was on shaky footing from the start. But the bit of the bum shambling about and drinking straight from the bottle was... I can't even describe how bad it was. What bothers my cynical ass most about it is that I am certain nobody else will complain about it. Not because they think it's great or anything, but because all of these types of movies contain scenes like this, and many of them a TON of them.

The guy drinking the booze is doing it so theatrically, it's like the producers are screaming in the audience's face "Look what we can get away with off Saturday morning!" He's making a noisy glugging sound just to sell how obviously he's drinking it. By the end of the scene he's less imbibing, and more making love to the bottle with his mouth. It's exactly as explicit and cringe as that. "Look! We're for adults! See?" Except, adults don't drink booze like that (unless it's on The PJ's). It's not realistic or credible. You want to convince me an animated superhero project is for adults? Try having the background characters behave credibly during everyday situations. That is far more adult than a guy chugging hard liquor like it's a bottle of Gatorade. Can I also point out that BECAUSE it's so theatrical, the animation looks outright lousy? I know the budgets to these things are super tight. You do a stupid thing like that, any animation flaws there become even MORE noticeable.

I was not happy. Butch Lukic is letting me down. Deja Vu with James Tucker's run quickly going (and staying) downhill after a promising start. **1/2.