Green Lantern: First Flight reviewed
Released in 2009, superhero film Green Lantern: First Flight is the fourth in Warner Bros' series of straight-to-DVD DC Universe Animated Original Movies – following Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: The New Frontier, Batman: Gotham Knight and Wonder Woman. Unfortunately though, Green Lantern: First Flight is also the weakest of the bunch – although I’m saying this having never watched the Superman: Doomsday movie.
What immediately puts Green Lantern: First Flight at a disadvantage is its near complete lack of character development. Given that a large chunk of Justice League: The New Frontier was devoted to Hal Jordan becoming a Green Lantern, First Flight refuses to repeat the same origin story, and almost immediately plunges Jordan (voiced by Christopher Meloni) into his first mission as an intergalactic, super-powered policeman – namely to bring the murderer of Jordan’s predecessor, Abin Sur to justice.
The thing is, Jordan as a character actually needs some explaining. He’s not as familiar to audiences as Superman and Batman, for example, who are already known widely as the big blue Boy Scout and brooding, vengeful detective, respectively. Jordan’s motivations remain a complete mystery throughout First Flight. He seems to be moral enough, and keen to do right, but there’s no real sense of the courage and intense will that see him chosen as Earth’s first Green Lantern to begin with.
Jordan in Justice League: The New Frontier at least spends a lot of time questioning whether he is worthy of the Green Lantern mantle. In First Flight, Jordan’s too cocky and confident to begin with. He doesn’t react with disbelief on encountering a dying, pink alien in the desert. When summoned to the planet of Oa to stand before the immortal Guardians, who set up the Green Lantern Corps in the first place, Jordan dismisses their advice. His whole attitude is one of “Yeah, yeah, this is cool. I know what I’m doing already.” This of course doesn’t make him a particularly likeable lead character. The viewer receives a far greater understanding of Sinestro (Victor Garber), the respected, but increasingly brutal, senior Lantern who takes Jordan under his wing.
This major complaint aside, Green Lantern: First Flight does have some positives going for it. In parts the film feels like an enjoyable cross between Star Wars and Samurai Jack, as Jordan visits alien worlds and interacts with some highly unusual, tentacled and sharp-toothed beings in various dodgy bars and nightclubs. In this regard, the film is differentiated from other superhero films, which tend to be largely Earth-bound. It’s debatable how well this approach will work in future live-action Green Lantern films (the first Ryan Reynolds starrer is out in June next year), but in a cartoon the alien-ness is easily acceptable and lots of fun. Similarly enjoyable meanwhile is the decision to cast Michael Madsen as surly Green Lantern trainer Kilowog. It’s a pity that the character has so little screen time because Madsen is spot-on in the role of one of the most beloved Green Lantern characters of all time.
There are a few other gripes to be made about Green Lantern: First Flight – including its overuse of computer-generated animation, which looks highly jarring alongside the film’s predominantly 2D visuals. Then there are the missed opportunities. The chief of these is the fact that the full extent of the power rings’ capabilities is never explored. A single training sequence would have gone a long way towards helping to correct this flaw.
In the end then, Green Lantern: First Flight may be largely unsatisfying but it’s still probably worth checking out if you’d like to know a bit more about Hal Jordan – one of the original superheroes with sci-fi leanings – before the live-action film comes out next year. Animated Green Lantern: First Flight is definitely not worth buying on DVD to rewatch, however, so – if you live in South Africa at least – seize the opportunity to catch it this month on the various DStv movie channels. And while you’re at it, make sure to schedule in a screening of the vastly superior Wonder Woman (my review), which also forms part of the DStv film line-up in August.
What immediately puts Green Lantern: First Flight at a disadvantage is its near complete lack of character development. Given that a large chunk of Justice League: The New Frontier was devoted to Hal Jordan becoming a Green Lantern, First Flight refuses to repeat the same origin story, and almost immediately plunges Jordan (voiced by Christopher Meloni) into his first mission as an intergalactic, super-powered policeman – namely to bring the murderer of Jordan’s predecessor, Abin Sur to justice.
The thing is, Jordan as a character actually needs some explaining. He’s not as familiar to audiences as Superman and Batman, for example, who are already known widely as the big blue Boy Scout and brooding, vengeful detective, respectively. Jordan’s motivations remain a complete mystery throughout First Flight. He seems to be moral enough, and keen to do right, but there’s no real sense of the courage and intense will that see him chosen as Earth’s first Green Lantern to begin with.
Jordan in Justice League: The New Frontier at least spends a lot of time questioning whether he is worthy of the Green Lantern mantle. In First Flight, Jordan’s too cocky and confident to begin with. He doesn’t react with disbelief on encountering a dying, pink alien in the desert. When summoned to the planet of Oa to stand before the immortal Guardians, who set up the Green Lantern Corps in the first place, Jordan dismisses their advice. His whole attitude is one of “Yeah, yeah, this is cool. I know what I’m doing already.” This of course doesn’t make him a particularly likeable lead character. The viewer receives a far greater understanding of Sinestro (Victor Garber), the respected, but increasingly brutal, senior Lantern who takes Jordan under his wing.
This major complaint aside, Green Lantern: First Flight does have some positives going for it. In parts the film feels like an enjoyable cross between Star Wars and Samurai Jack, as Jordan visits alien worlds and interacts with some highly unusual, tentacled and sharp-toothed beings in various dodgy bars and nightclubs. In this regard, the film is differentiated from other superhero films, which tend to be largely Earth-bound. It’s debatable how well this approach will work in future live-action Green Lantern films (the first Ryan Reynolds starrer is out in June next year), but in a cartoon the alien-ness is easily acceptable and lots of fun. Similarly enjoyable meanwhile is the decision to cast Michael Madsen as surly Green Lantern trainer Kilowog. It’s a pity that the character has so little screen time because Madsen is spot-on in the role of one of the most beloved Green Lantern characters of all time.
There are a few other gripes to be made about Green Lantern: First Flight – including its overuse of computer-generated animation, which looks highly jarring alongside the film’s predominantly 2D visuals. Then there are the missed opportunities. The chief of these is the fact that the full extent of the power rings’ capabilities is never explored. A single training sequence would have gone a long way towards helping to correct this flaw.
In the end then, Green Lantern: First Flight may be largely unsatisfying but it’s still probably worth checking out if you’d like to know a bit more about Hal Jordan – one of the original superheroes with sci-fi leanings – before the live-action film comes out next year. Animated Green Lantern: First Flight is definitely not worth buying on DVD to rewatch, however, so – if you live in South Africa at least – seize the opportunity to catch it this month on the various DStv movie channels. And while you’re at it, make sure to schedule in a screening of the vastly superior Wonder Woman (my review), which also forms part of the DStv film line-up in August.
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