Well, well, well. The reviews have started to come in for Lanterns, and who saw this coming? The reviews are good. Very good. At the time of writing this morning, the new HBO show is sitting at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes with 41 reviews counted.
Is this show going to confound expectations? More importantly, does it give the DCU a much-needed hit after the square kick in the balls it just received via Supergirl in theaters this summer?
The critics seem to think so. To the summary pages!!
“One of its most notable achievements is serving as a mystery told in a (decidedly TV-MA) premium cable mode (Mundy’s True Detective experience can be felt) while still working as a Green Lantern story…”
Keith Phipps, TV Guide
“It is bound to become the best live-action DC TV show for many.”
Felipe Rangel, Screen Rant
“…confident, engaging Lanterns, a show that, befitting its characters who can create something out of thin air, is never quite what you think it’s going to be… Lanterns is a success, incredibly watchable even through its flaws, and nearly heroic in its hits.”
Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
“A much-needed win for DC Studios but also a necessary pivot to showcase the full breadth of their storytelling.”
Giovanni Lago, Next Best Picture
By embracing character and story above all else, Lanterns may win over even the most stubborn of skeptics.
Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm
“…Lanterns” is an exciting synthesis of its creators’ strengths. The series is a bright addition to HBO’s expanding mandate, rather than an empty capitulation to corporate demand for more name-brand franchises…”
Ben Travers, Indiewire
“HBO’s Lanterns has DC Comics roots and some moments of effects-driven superhero bombast. But… what it feels like is a Jack Reacher story with Aaron Pierre as the swaggering, oversized outsider who strolls into a small Nebraska town. It’s easy to acknowledge that Lanterns is smarter, better-acted and just plain better than any season of Reacher to date…”
Daniel Fienberg, THR
“Leaning into the character development between the three Lanterns is smart … There’s so much going on between Hal Jordan and John Stewart and they needed their own story. And it’s kind of remarkable we are finally getting this…”
Mike Ryan, The Hard Pass
“Lanterns has all the external trappings of an HBO crime drama, one so grounded that at times it’s disconcerting to hear a character casually mention growing up in Gotham (you know, where Batman lives) versus Chicago or New York…”
Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
“Structural unevenness aside, it’s grounded even when its superpowered main characters take flight, thanks primarily to stellar lead performances from Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, which lend this fantastical material its down-to-Earth soul… After a rocky start, the DC Universe finally gets a bona fide win with Lanterns.”
Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
Find out for yourself. Lanterns premieres today on HBO.
