Is Emerald Knights an amazing movie that I will watch many, many times?  No.

First off, I always remind myself that this is an amazing age that I live in, where more and more of the comic book characters I loved as a kid are being turned into movies and TV shows and cartoons than I ever thought would happen.  Seeing the Green Lantern Corps brought to life on the big screen is amazing.  A decade ago, I watched the first season of “Justice League” and gave an audible gasp when a handful of Green Lanterns went into action against the Manhunters.  And that was just for five GLs.  Now, when I see those trailers for the new GL movie and the corps is gathered by the hundreds, with dozens onscreen in each shot… I’m torn between the urge to cry for the fulfilled dreams of the little boy inside me and the urge to say aloud how lousy the fakey, video-game level CGI looks.

With all my heart, I want to say that this DVD is the greatest thing ever.  I mean, it’s an animated adaptation of “Tales of the Green Lantern Corps”!  AND it has two of Alan Moore’s greatest stories, “Mogo Doesn’t Socialize” and “Tygers”.

If you’re wondering why Alan Moore doesn’t let his name appear on adaptations of his work anymore, I think the two stories on here would be exhibits A and B. “Tygers” is one of the all-time creepy stories because of Qull of the Five Inversions and the other bizarre, warped, twisted inhabitants of the prison planet.  The story works because of the mind game that is being played on the Green Lantern, and the payoff at the end in Abin Sur’s realization that the monsters were telling the truth.  So for the animated version, Qull and the other members of the Empire of Tears don’t appear at all, the story is told by the Geoff Johns creation Atrocitus, all of the nuances and great turns of phrase are gone, and the prediction is entirely different.  It doesn’t work.

I didn’t think you could screw up the story of Mogo, but they found a way.

The other stories actually work better for the movie, though I found the martial arts one rather boring.  The central tale is actually the best thing, better than the excuse for telling flashback stories.

One other thing.  It bugs me that this movie doesn’t even gibe with “First Flight”, because Sinestro is shown in the Corps in this one.

I hate to say anything more…because I want this DVD to be a hit and I want DC to keep making more.  Many more.  Just… do them better.  Perhaps it needs to be pointed out that dramatic stories work if you adapt them as drama, not action.