Green Lantern: First Flight is a direct-to-video animated film adaptation of the DC Comics Green Lantern mythology. Centering on the first mission of Hal Jordan (Christopher Meloni), the first human inducted into the Green Lantern Corps, the film is written by veteran DC Comics animation collaborator Alan Burnett, produced by Bruce Timm, and directed by Lauren Montgomery.[1] It is the fifth in the line of DC Universe Original Animated Movies released by Warner Premiere and Warner Bros. Animation, the most recent releases being Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Wonder Woman.
Plot
Before any other sentient beings existed in the universe, a race of beings calling themselves the Guardians of the Universe harnessed the power of the "green element" (Ion), the greatest power in the universe, to create the Green Lantern battery. However, the battery has a flaw: the color yellow, the one part of the light spectrum that can resist green. The most concentrated source of yellow energy, the "yellow element" (Parallax), was hidden by the Guardians to prevent others from using it against them.
Ferris Aircraft's test pilot Hal Jordan (Christopher Meloni) is recruited to join the Green Lantern Corps after the death of Abin Sur. He is placed under the supervision of respected senior officer Sinestro (Victor Garber), who is investigating Abin's murder. Abin was killed while doing an undercover investigation of Kanjar Ro (Kurtwood Smith), who managed to locate and steal the yellow element. What no one realizes is that Sinestro provided Kanjar with the location of the element, in order to have it fashioned into a weapon of comparable power to the Green Lantern battery.
Jordan quickly comes to understand that Sinestro's beliefs are not in line with those of the Guardians: Sinestro believes that the Guardians have reduced the Corps to the role of "trash collectors," merely picking up the messes criminals create as opposed to proactively dealing with the problem. During a mission to capture Kanjar Ro, Jordan is knocked unconscious by Kanjar's energy staff. Sinestro comes in and kills Kanjar, pinning the blame on Jordan. Jordan is stripped of his ring as punishment.
While Jordan waits to be taken home, Sinestro uses his ring to temporarily animate Kanjar's corpse in order to access the data in Kanjar's energy staff, allowing him to learn the location of Qward, where the yellow element weapon is being fashioned. Jordan convinces fellow Lanterns Boodikka (Tricia Helfer) and Kilowog (Michael Madsen) that Sinestro is not what he seems. They catch Sinestro red-handed, but Boodikka turns out to be in league with Sinestro and attacks Jordan and Kilowog. Sinestro escapes, and Boodikka is killed when Jordan tricks her into destroying Kanjar's unstable energy staff.
On Qward, the Weaponers bestow Sinestro with the yellow ring and battery. Using its power, he lays waste to Oa, the yellow light easily overcoming the Green Lantern rings. The yellow battery (which in practice functions like a giant yellow ring) even destroys the green battery, killing countless Green Lanterns who were in space at the time. Jordan, having recovered his ring moments too late, pounds on the inert green element, breaking it and absorbing the whole of its power. Imbued with the full might of the green energy, he destroys the yellow battery by smashing it between two moons.
However, having exhausted most of his power to destroy the yellow battery, Jordan is left weakened against Sinestro, whose ring still holds a significant charge. After a pitched battle, Jordan uses the last of his power to knock Sinestro to the surface of Oa, where Kilowog crushes the yellow ring. Kilowog, his ring having regained some of its power, then saves Jordan from free fall.
Once Oa is rebuilt and the Green Lantern battery restored, Jordan is asked by the Guardians to lead the Corps in reciting the Green Lantern oath. Jordan then leaves for Earth to check in with his other boss, Carol Ferris (Olivia D'Abo), remarking on the long "commute."
Cast
Production
According to director Montgomery, Jordan's origin story was previously covered in the Justice League: The New Frontier film: "...we really didn't want to spend a whole lot of time telling that same story over again. So in Green Lantern: First Flight, the origin story is over and done before the opening credits."[3]
Soundtrack
- Main Title 2:06
- The Ring Chooses Hal 4:42
- Hal Meets / The Flight 3:46
- Labella's Club 3:28
- Going After Cuch 3:04
- The Way I Heard It 2:19
- Bugs In The Baggage 4:14
- Teleport Pursuit 2:28
- Brutal Attack / Fate Of Kanjar 3:50
- Relinquishing The Ring 1:16
- Back From / Boodikka Turns 5:49
- Weaponers / Sinestro 4:28
- The New Power Arrives 2:35
- The Corps Fight Sinestro 2:48
- The Corps Fall 1:34
- Revival Of The Green Lantern 2:25
- Asteroid Battle 2:47
- Ring Against Ring 3:00
- The Green Lantern Pledge 1:03
- End Credit 3:00
Reception
Like the other DC Universe Original Animated Movies before it, Green Lantern: First Flight received mostly positive reviews upon its release, currently holding a 7.3/10 at IMDb[4]. ComingSoon.net also gave a positive review, giving it a 7.5 out of 10, citing the impressive action sequences and praising the voice acting, remarking that "Green Lantern: First Flight is a fun action adventure that should please comic book fans."[5] IGN also had similar remarks praising the animation and the scale, but criticized the film for glossing over a lot of Hal Jordan's backstory from the comics as well as a lack of character development "The filmmakers seem less interested in his transition from an ordinary man into a intergalactic superhero, and in their eagerness to get him up into space and fighting aliens right away." Overall they gave the film a 7 out of 10.[6]
Comic Book Resources gave a positive review for Green Lantern: First Flight, citing that "Green Lantern: First Flight is a welcome portrayal of the material. It shows the appropriate scale and scope of the concept. It illustrates the characters in their best light and, most crucially, makes you wish 'Green Lantern' was its own ongoing animated series."[7] AMC's Filmcritic.com also gave a positive film review, giving the animated feature 4.0 out of 5 stars.[8] In contrast, Green Lantern: First Flight received a mixed reception on rottentomatoes.com, currently standing with a 50% approval rating.
AComicBookBlog gave the film an 8 out of 10, citing the voice acting and animation style as some strong points to the film, while referring to the lack of comic continuity as a downfall. The full review at acomicbookblog.com can be seen here.[9]
Home media
Green Lantern: First Flight was released on standard DVD in single and double disc editions, along with a high definition Blu-ray release, on July 28, 2009.[1] Features outlined for the double disc edition in the press release include two production featurettes, commentary, a sneak peak of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, trailers of the DC Universe features, digital copy download, and two episodes of Justice League picked by Bruce Timm. The Blu-ray edition has all the features of the double disc standard definition release including three additional Justice League episodes selected by Bruce Timm and the Duck Dodgers episode "The Green Loontern".[1]
References
External links
