Rorschach's "Green Lantern: First Flight" Review

Well like anyone who has been following DC's animated movies over the years would have anticipated, "Green Lantern: First Flight" is great. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as "Wonder Woman", but not far off.

At first i really wasn't sure about it. The pre-credits scene in which we see Hal Jordan receive the ring from Abin Sur seems very rushed, and i was concerned that the rest of the movie would follow suit. The animation also seems slightly inferior to previous DC efforts, but it just takes some getting used to.

Once the credits role the movie just sucks you straight in to the action, as Sinestro, Kilowog and various other Lanterns(including Boodikka, voiced by Tricia Helfer) pay Hal a visit to gauge his worthiness of holding the ring. They bring him to Oa, where the Guardians are skeptical of Jordan's abilities and seem to distrust humans in general. But Sinestro offers to take Hal under his wing and show him the ropes. They're first mission is to track down an alien named Kutch, who is responsible for the death of Abin Sur. While searching for Kutch, Sinestro gets very heavy handed when interrogating a female alien and Hal steps in. This sets the characters on the path any GL fan knows they end up on. But, for those that don't know the story i wont give away any more of the plot.

The voice acting is typically top class, with Victor Garber standing out as Sinestro. He makes the character very, well..sinister! Without resorting to hamminess. Michael Madsen makes a great Kilowog, although i didn't really like the look they chose for him. He looked much closer to the comic in the JLU cartoon. Tricia Helfer is fine as Boodikka, although she doesn't get that much to do. Chris Meloni took longest to grow on me voicing Hal but he does get there eventually!

This is also probably the most violent of all the animated features we have seen so far. They really push the PG13 boundaries, considering this is a cartoon and will be seen as being aimed pretty squarely at kids. There are shoot outs, space battles and ring fights galore! And a third act twist that i really did not see coming. Its really a great sci fi story, and reminded me a lot of the original Star Wars in some ways. There's even a nod to the Mos Eisley bar scene when Hal and Sinestro first go looking for Kutch.

The only real problem i had with the movie is that aside from the first few minutes, its set exclusively in space and never touches on the GL's life back on earth as Hal Jordan. This means the action is continuous of course, but i think even one scene of him heading back to visit Carol and his pals should have been squeezed in.

Like i said, i didn't enjoy it as much as WW, but that's probably because i wasn't really expecting so much from that movie. Either way, give this a rent or a buy, you won't be disappointed.

****