Green Lantern Corps: Sinestro War
Genre: Action / Superhero / Sci-Fi
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: APJ
Based on DC Comics characters
Cast: Tom Cruise, John Boyega, Luke Evans, Carrie Coon, Terence Stamp, Cleopatra Coleman, Bryan Brown, Kevin Durand, Billy Dee Williams, Nick Chinlund, Miranda Otto, Vinnie Karetak, James Frain, Veronica Ngo, Cliff Curtis
Plot: Green Lantern Abin Sur (Cliff Curtis) captures Parallax, the yellow fear entity, in a large containment unit on his spaceship. He delivers the imprisoned creature to Krona (Billy Dee Williams), one of the Guardians of the Universe, on Ysmault, a remote star in the Milky Way Galaxy. Krona, however, turns on Abin Sur, having him attacked by a group of Manhunters. Abin Sur’s close proximity to Parallax weakens him, allowing the Manhunters to mortally wound him. Abin Sur flees from the star in his ship as he bleeds profusely. He tries to seal his wound with his green power ring, but the damage is already done. He pilots his ship toward the nearest planet, Earth, crashing on its surface. He takes off his power ring and tells it to find someone worthy - a man without fear.
10 Years Later…
Hal Jordan (Tom Cruise) wakes up in bed next to Carol Ferris (Carrie Coon). He silently climbs out of bed and charges his power ring with his lantern. Hal is about to leave Earth to go to Oa, but Carol wakes up and catches him. She chastises him for once again trying to leave the planet without saying goodbye. Hal says he was afraid to wake her. Carol gives Hal a kiss and says that they both know Hal Jordan has no fear. Hal promises to return after he meets with Ganthet on Oa and does a patrol shift with what is left of the Green Lantern Corps. Hal then flies off in a blur of green light away from Earth.
Thaal Sinestro (Luke Evans) flies up to Starlag, a large prison complex floating through the Vega system. Sinestro uses his yellow power ring to blast a hole through the exterior of Starlag. As prisoners and guards alike are sucked out of Starlag and into open space, Sinestro flies through the opening and tracks down Arkillo (Nick Chinlund) - the most feared criminal in the galaxy - who is being kept in a maximum security cell. Sinestro blasts the guards with his ring and frees Arkillo. Sinestro offers Arkillo a yellow power ring of his own and asks Arkillo to join him in spreading fear through the universe as part of his Sinestro Corps. Arkillo thinks about it for a moment before putting the ring on.
Green Lanterns John Stewart (John Boyega) and Katma Tui (Cleopatra Coleman) are on patrol when they hear a report of the prison break at Starlag. Stewart and Tui get there just in time to see Sinestro and Arkillo leaving the prison. They are stunned to see Sinestro in yellow instead of green. Seeing various aliens - both guards and prisoners - suffocating in space, Stewart and Tui both prioritize rescuing them, which allows Sinestro and Arkillo to escape. After everyone is back inside and safe, the prison warden condemns them for saving everyone, telling them that Arkillo being on the loose will result in more lost lives than what they just saved.
Hal Jordan arrives on Oa just in time for a ceremony where the last Guardian of the Universe, Ganthet (Terence Stamp), is naming veteran Green Lantern Tomar-Re (Bryan Brown) as a new Guardian and his successor as leader of the Green Lantern Corps. Jordan congratulates Tomar-Re on the promotion after the ceremony. Their conversation is cut short though by the arrival of John Stewart and Katma Tui, who inform everyone that Sinestro is now wearing a yellow power ring and that he just broke Arkillo out of Starlag. Tomar-Re informs them that he and his old partner Kilowog had captured Arkillo, a brutal barbarian, and imprisoned him in Starlag to protect the galaxy from his terror. Ganthet says that clearly Sinestro has recruited him due to his ability to instill fear in others, with fear being what powers the yellow power battery.
Sinestro and Arkillo arrive on Qward, the base of operations for the Sinestro Corps and home of the yellow power battery. Sinestro realizes that the power battery is not going to be strong enough to power an army of rings. Sinestro’s wife, Arin Sur (Miranda Otto), suggests that if he wants a battery strong enough to fulfill his vision he will need to locate what powers the yellow power battery in the first place - the fear entity Parallax. She then reminds Sinestro that her brother, Abin Sur, had been sent by the Guardians to capture Parallax before he died.
Ganthet reveals to Jordan and the others that there is an entire spectrum of power batteries, not just green and yellow, with each color representing the emotion that powers it - Green is Will and Yellow is Fear, but there is also Red (Rage), Orange (Avarice), Blue (Hope), Indigo (Compassion) and Violet (Love). Jordan is surprised to hear this since he had not been informed about any of them in his ten years with the Green Lantern Corps. Ganthet confesses that he and the other Guardians tried to suppress the other spectrums because they were less predictable and more unstable than the green power battery. Ganthet says that now he realizes that they will need rings from the other spectrums if they are going to stop whatever Sinestro has planned. He urges the others to go to see Krona on Ysmalt, who has been hiding a copy of each power ring for centuries just in case they are needed, even after he was exiled from the Guardians.
Sinestro and Arkillo arrive on Ysmalt. Sinestro demands that Krona free Parallax into his custody so that he can use the fear entity to fully power an entire army of yellow power rings. Krona uses his power gauntlet against them, but they overpower the elderly former Guardian, Krona concedes and hands over the tomb containing Parallax. Sinestro then blasts Krona with his yellow power ring, with Parallax’s presence increasing the strength of his ring. Sinestro tells Arkillo that Parallax will be the perfect weapon to finally instill fear in Hal Jordan, which would render the strongest Green Lantern left practically useless. Sinestro and Arkillo leave Ysmalt with the tomb, with Krona incapacitated and unable to stop them.
Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Katma Tui and Tomar-Re all arrive on Ysmalt to find a gravely injured Krona. He tells them that Sinestro beat them to Ysmalt and has taken Parallax, the fear entity, in order to wage war against the Green Lantern Corps, and Hal Jordan specifically. Tomar-Re tells Krona that they are there looking for a way to defeat Sinestro and the army he is building. Krona leads them to a vault containing rings from the other spectrums: Yellow, Red, Orange, Indigo, Violet and Blue. Jordan asks how it works, and Krona tells them that once the rings are released from their case, they will automatically seek out someone they deem worthy and suitable to wield them. Krona releases the rings. The violet ring goes to Katma Tui, the blue ring goes to Tomar-Re, the yellow ring goes to Jordan, while the red, orange and indigo power rings shoot off into space. Katma Tui asks why the violet ring chose her. Krona tells her that it must sense a love in her heart. Tui looks over at Stewart, and the two exchange loving glances. Jordan is shocked that a yellow ring would choose him, but Krona tells him that Sinestro fears him. Jordan starts to rally the others to split up in their pursuit of Sinestro. He wants to go back to Earth in case Sinestro plans to attack his home planet, but Tomar-Re says that Jordan should lead the hunt for Sinestro since he fears him. Tomar-Re then says that he and Katma Tui will go to Earth and that Jordan and Stewart should track down Sinestro.
Sinestro and Arkillo return to Qward with the tomb containing Parallax. The fear entity’s presence immediately begins powering up the yellow power battery at the center of Qward. Now at full strength, Sinestro sends Arkillo and Parallax to Earth to destroy Hal Jordan’s home of Coast City. Sinestro will stay and ready the rest of his Sinestro Corps for battle against the Green Lantern Corps. After Arkillo and Parallax leave the planet, Arin Sur asks Sinestro if he’s sure about what he’s doing. Sinestro says that destroying Coast City will either break Hal Jordan or make him stronger, but even Jordan’s will power will be enough to defeat an entity like Parallax and his Sinestro Corps, motioning out toward an army of waiting Sinestro Corps soldiers.
Former Green Lantern Kilowog (Kevin Durand) resides alone in the ruins of his destroyed home planet of Bolovax Vik after failing to find a home on Earth decades earlier. The Red Power Ring finds its way to him. He puts it on and becomes a Red Lantern. He feels compelled to fly his way to Oa. When he gets there the place looks a lot different than the hay days when he was a member of the Green Lantern Corps. Ganthet the Guardian is the only familiar face he sees. Ganthet tells him to please wait for Hal Jordan and John Stewart to return as they are going to need someone with Kilowog’s rage to wield that red power ring and help defeat the army that Sinestro is building. Kilowog is surprised that Sinestro has become the bad guy, musing that it shouldn’t be surprising though with a name like Sinestro.
Back on Earth, Carol Ferris and Thomas Kalmaku (Vinnie Karetak) are preparing for the launch of a new test rocket. Just as they are about to launch the rocket, Thomas aborts the launch process. Carol asks why, and he says that there is an unknown object entering Earth’s atmosphere. They both go outside and see the skies beginning to turn yellow above Coast City. Tomar-Re and Katma Tui both land down at the Ferris Air base. They use their new blue and violet power rings to form a force field over Coast City as the massive Parallax continues getting closer.
On the planet of Okaara, Larfleeze (James Frain) is in the process of stealing an ancient artifact when the Orange Power Ring finds its way onto his finger. Larfleeze doesn’t think much of it and continues in his heist, but the ring has other ideas and transports him to Oa. Larfleeze announces that he has no interest in joining any kind of team, or sharing his power with anyone - he wants to keep everything for himself. Hal Jordan and John Stewart arrive on Oa in the middle of Larfleeze’s rant. Stewart jokes that the orange ring clearly chose its wielder for his greed. They are soon joined by the stoic and mysterious Iroque (Veronica Ngo) who teleports to Oa wielding the Indigo Power Ring. Krona soon arrives in Oa as well. Still weakened from his injuries, he apologizes to Ganthet for turning on him and the other Guardians all those generations ago. He says that he hopes he has found a way to make it up to him and reveals that he has learned that the yellow power battery will be on Qward where Sinestro has been building up his Corps. Krona says that hopefully they can get there before Sinestro does whatever he has planned for Jordan’s home world. Ganthet thanks Krona for coming and offers him one of the vacant Guardians spots, but Krona declines.
Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kilowog, Larfleeze and Iroque all make their way to Qward. They find an army waiting for them, but Sinestro and Parallax are nowhere to be found. Kilowog suggests that Jordan and Stewart make their way to Earth to protect it from Sinestro while he, Larfleeze and Iroque take care of the Sinestro Corps soldiers remaining on Qward. Jordan agrees and asks them all to head toward Earth once they’re done. Jordan and Stewart fly off to race toward Earth. Red Lantern Kilowog leads Orange Lantern Larfleeze and Indigo Lantern Iroque against the novice Sinestro Corps Yellow Lanterns remaining on Qward. Without their leader or Parallax around, the Yellow Lanterns quickly fall in battle. Kilowog then suggests that they destroy the yellow power battery so that any bearers of a yellow power ring will be unable to recharge. Kilowog, Larfleeze and Iroque all fire their power rings at the battery, resulting in a fiery, yellow explosion. The three then begin flying toward Earth at full speed.
The blue and violet force field created by the power rings of Katma Tui and Tomar-Re is losing its strength as Parallax begins to fill the atmosphere around it. Arkillo begins pounding on a section of blue force field created by Tomar-Re’s ring. Rather than continue to simply play defense, Tui breaks her force field off and engages Arkill in battle, attacking him with her violet power ring. Seeing a break in the force field from the surface, Carol tells Thomas to fire every test rocket and missile they have on the base at the yellow creature in the sky, Parallax. The missiles and rockets do a bit of damage to Parallax, but the entity quickly regains its strength based on the amount of fear it is creating among the people of Coast City. Sinestro arrives and instructs Parallax to begin destroying the city. Katma Tui tries to use her new violet power ring, picturing her love for John Stewart, to create a massive violet concussive blast that sends Arkillo flying. Arkillo absorbs energy from Parallax into his ring. He then grabs Katma Tui by the neck with his ring-hand. He causes his ring to explode, killing Katma Tui. Her body falls down to the ground.
Hal Jordan and John Stewart arrive in Coast City to find Parallax completely consuming the skies and Tomar-Re struggling to defend the area by himself from Arkill. Parallax begins to disintegrate the city and sucks the life out of those frozen in fear. Stewart asks where Katma Tui is. Tomar-Re regretfully points to her body. Stewart flies over and becomes enraged by her death. His ring forms a green missile launcher, which he fires at Arkillo. Jordan makes sure Carol is safe. She is surprised by his new yellow appearance, but kisses him anyway. The violet ring flies off of Katma Tui’s lifeless finger. Stewart tries to grab it, but it makes its way onto the hand of Carol. She is suddenly transformed into a Violet Lantern. Stewart continues to fight Arkillo with a barrage of attacks from his power ring. Arkillo closes in and grabs Stewart, but Stewart calmly tells Arkillo that he is not afraid of him. Stewart then blasts a hole through Arkillo’s chest, killing him.
Kilowog, Larfleeze and Iroque arrive on Earth. Tomar-Re tells them that the only way to defeat a spectrum entity is to use all the other rings in the spectrum against it. Tomar-Re, Kilowog, Larfleeze, Stewart and Iroque line up in formation underneath Parallax. Jordan tells Carol that she must join them and use her new ring against Parallax. Carol says she doesn’t know how to work the thing. Jordan tells her that the violet power ring is powered by the emotion of love, so as long as she thinks about and feels that the ring will do most of the work itself. She asks what he is going to do, and Jordan tells her that he must battle Sinestro now. Carol closes her eyes and the ring brings her into the formation with the others. A rainbow of power fires from their formation right at Parallax, as they all focus on their emotion on the spectrum. Parallax becomes smaller every second. No longer a massive cloud of yellow fear energy, Parallax is weakened all the way down to the size of a rock, and finally disappears completely.
Hal Jordan flies around until he finds Sinestro hiding behind the cloudlike form of Parallax. Sinestro is stunned to see that Jordan is wielding a yellow power ring. He demands to know how Jordan is able to wield it. Jordan says that the ring came to him because he is feared. Sinestro laughs and asks who fears him. Jordan says “you”. Jordan then fires at Sinestro with his yellow power ring. Sinestro fires back with his. The two beams are of equal strength, countering each other. Jordan then pulls out his green power ring and puts it on his other hand. He then fires at Sinestro with a green power ring in one hand and a yellow power ring in the other. The dual power ring blasts incapacitate Sinestro, knocking him unconscious. Jordan pulls Sinestro’s ring off of his finger and creates a set of handcuffs from his green power ring. Tomar-Re escorts the unconscious Sinestro to Starlag to be imprisoned.
Hal Jordan joins Carol Ferris to fly around the city and survey the destruction of Coast City. All the damage of their hometown saddens them, but Carol vows to use her resources as president of Ferris Air to work to rebuild the city. Jordan tells Carol that there is going to be a lot of business to deal with back on Oa. Carol motions to her Violet Power Ring and asks if she will be able to go there with him now. Jordan smiles. Carol and Jordan hold hands as they fly off into space toward Oa, Jordan surrounded by green energy and Carol surrounded by violet energy.
All of the various Lanterns reconvene on Oa for Katma Tui’s funeral. John Stewart can’t bring himself to take part in the ceremony, instead choosing to watch the funeral from a distance. After the funeral, Kilowog takes off the red power ring, insisting he’d rather be a regular Green Lantern again. All of the Lanterns fire their rings toward space as a salute to the fallen Katma Tui. After the funeral, Jordan introduces Carol to Ganthet. He notices her Violet Power Ring. He says that if the ring found her she must love Jordan quite a lot.
Post-Credits Scene:
John Stewart flies aimlessly through space, still angry about Katma Tui’s death at the hands of Arkillo. He sees something in the distance coming toward him. Eventually it is clear that it is a Red Power Ring. Stewart holds it in his hands. His eyes glow red as he contemplates putting on the ring.
