Green Lanter: First Flight is the latest(as of writing this) direct to video animated feature from Warner Bros based on DC comics characters. It presents a re-telling of the origin of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, his recruitment into the Green Lantern Corp and subsequent first mission. Along the way he meets a variety of unique characters including Sinestro, a senior Green Lantern enforcer with a hidden agenda.
For an origin story, this movie comes across as very rushed. How Hal Jordan got the Green Lantern ring is over and done with in the first 5 minutes. By the next 5 minutes he is already in full control of his powers and being brought before the Green Lantern council of guardians and on his way to becoming a full fledged member.
This show tries to cram too much into too short a time. The effects of this cramming were not as jarring as with the previous direct to DVD animated features like Superman Doomsday. But for Green Lantern: First Flight, its story can easily span 6 standard TV episodes (20 minutes each, totaling at 120 minutes of material). More time could have been devoted to letting the suspense and intrigue play out so that the whole "cop drama in space" feel can be fully appreciated.
As the main character in his own origin movie, Hal Jordan is possibly the most under-developed character in the whole show. The only thing that sets him apart from the rest is his creativity with the power ring(and mind you, the things he makes with that ring are really cool and adds a little humor here and there.) Other than that, there is never any sense of Hal's story as a journey from "zero to hero". Sinestro on the other hand is given a refreshing take as a villain. His motives no longer come across as just purely "Bad guy" motives. He honestly wants the universe to change for the better, even if he has to take over the reins of power. Sounds like some of the antagonists from Gundam or something, but a very well developed character overall; his motives leading very logically into his actions. Side characters like Kilowog and the Guardians are so much more interesting than Hal Jordan, punctuated by top notch acting all the way that lends to the believability and realism of the show.
Aside from a less than interesting main character and a short running time, Green Lanter First Flight still manages to be highly entertaining. After the first 15 minutes or so, The story starts to shares a number of elements similar to "The Recruit". New guy gets recruited into a law enforcement organization, though there are those that do not quite trust him. What was thought to be a run-of-the-mill mission soon turns out to be something a lot deeper, encompassing betrayal and hostile takeover. Accompanying the action is an intense musical score that is quite different in feel from the other superhero animated features. This one uses an interesting mix of traditional instruments and electronic synthetic sounds to create a very unique theme for Green Lantern.
What would stand out most of all is the gorgeous animation. The same high frame rate is applied here again, as with previous DC animated features. Characters movements are very fluid and with some scenes looking as smooth as real life footage. The level of detail in the art has also been taken up a notch since "Wonder Woman". One or two of the fight scenes could have been staged a little better though. The director is good at what she does, except fight scenes. The final duel between Hal Jordan and Sinestro for example. What could have been a galaxy spanning duel of epic proportions with each combatant utilizing every trick in the book, turned into a simple fist fight in space.
Character designs in Green Lantern are not as angular as previous DC style designs. The men characters are more realistically proportioned, no longer overly muscle bound, and The Women characters bear a very feminine "European anime" look like in Totally Spies and Martin Mystery. The alien characters here are also something new for DC animation. They actually LOOK ALIEN, and not like humans wearing makeup and prosthetics like in the Justice league animated series. Most of the designs are really original though one or 2 look like they were ripped off from Ben 10.
A word of warning though. This film EARNS its PG13 rating. A little swearing in the dialog, some innuendo here and there and lots of violence. There are a couple of scenes that some people may find disturbing like a guy getting sucked out into space through a tiny hole for example. Definitely not for kids(and kids wont appreciate the complex story anyway).
Green Lantern: First flight is really a gem. A pity it was so short though, which seriously affected some character development and pacing issues. DC's DTV animated features have been improving with each installment. I just hope the next improvement they can make is to allow a longer running time.
For an origin story, this movie comes across as very rushed. How Hal Jordan got the Green Lantern ring is over and done with in the first 5 minutes. By the next 5 minutes he is already in full control of his powers and being brought before the Green Lantern council of guardians and on his way to becoming a full fledged member.
This show tries to cram too much into too short a time. The effects of this cramming were not as jarring as with the previous direct to DVD animated features like Superman Doomsday. But for Green Lantern: First Flight, its story can easily span 6 standard TV episodes (20 minutes each, totaling at 120 minutes of material). More time could have been devoted to letting the suspense and intrigue play out so that the whole "cop drama in space" feel can be fully appreciated.
As the main character in his own origin movie, Hal Jordan is possibly the most under-developed character in the whole show. The only thing that sets him apart from the rest is his creativity with the power ring(and mind you, the things he makes with that ring are really cool and adds a little humor here and there.) Other than that, there is never any sense of Hal's story as a journey from "zero to hero". Sinestro on the other hand is given a refreshing take as a villain. His motives no longer come across as just purely "Bad guy" motives. He honestly wants the universe to change for the better, even if he has to take over the reins of power. Sounds like some of the antagonists from Gundam or something, but a very well developed character overall; his motives leading very logically into his actions. Side characters like Kilowog and the Guardians are so much more interesting than Hal Jordan, punctuated by top notch acting all the way that lends to the believability and realism of the show.
Aside from a less than interesting main character and a short running time, Green Lanter First Flight still manages to be highly entertaining. After the first 15 minutes or so, The story starts to shares a number of elements similar to "The Recruit". New guy gets recruited into a law enforcement organization, though there are those that do not quite trust him. What was thought to be a run-of-the-mill mission soon turns out to be something a lot deeper, encompassing betrayal and hostile takeover. Accompanying the action is an intense musical score that is quite different in feel from the other superhero animated features. This one uses an interesting mix of traditional instruments and electronic synthetic sounds to create a very unique theme for Green Lantern.
What would stand out most of all is the gorgeous animation. The same high frame rate is applied here again, as with previous DC animated features. Characters movements are very fluid and with some scenes looking as smooth as real life footage. The level of detail in the art has also been taken up a notch since "Wonder Woman". One or two of the fight scenes could have been staged a little better though. The director is good at what she does, except fight scenes. The final duel between Hal Jordan and Sinestro for example. What could have been a galaxy spanning duel of epic proportions with each combatant utilizing every trick in the book, turned into a simple fist fight in space.
Character designs in Green Lantern are not as angular as previous DC style designs. The men characters are more realistically proportioned, no longer overly muscle bound, and The Women characters bear a very feminine "European anime" look like in Totally Spies and Martin Mystery. The alien characters here are also something new for DC animation. They actually LOOK ALIEN, and not like humans wearing makeup and prosthetics like in the Justice league animated series. Most of the designs are really original though one or 2 look like they were ripped off from Ben 10.
A word of warning though. This film EARNS its PG13 rating. A little swearing in the dialog, some innuendo here and there and lots of violence. There are a couple of scenes that some people may find disturbing like a guy getting sucked out into space through a tiny hole for example. Definitely not for kids(and kids wont appreciate the complex story anyway).
Green Lantern: First flight is really a gem. A pity it was so short though, which seriously affected some character development and pacing issues. DC's DTV animated features have been improving with each installment. I just hope the next improvement they can make is to allow a longer running time.