director: Lauren Montgomery
writers: Alan Burnett, Michael Allen
starring: Christopher Meloni, Victor Garber, Tricia Helfer, Michael Madsen
genre: Action, Animation, Comics
In terms of quality Green Lantern is pretty much on par with Wonder Woman. But in my opinion it’s a bit worse as a film for it’s somewhat lazy, and not on the mark depiction of Green Lantern. Green Lantern is probably my favorite DC comic’s character and plays a big part in my critique of the whole film. Even though I may consider a little bit of a problem it doesn’t mean that this still isn’t a good film.
For those not familiar with the Green Lantern mythos let me summarize a bit so you know what you’re getting into. Green Lanterns are a space police that protect the universe with their power rings. Their rings are powered by the Lantern power source that is in the middle of the universe on their headquarters that is the planet OA. Also they are leaded by the Guardians who are one of the oldest life forms of the galaxy. And last their power comes from the element of green that stands for willpower.
Now for the story. First Flight starts off with the death of Green Lantern Abin Surr and Hal Jordan training on a flight simulator. With Abin Sur death his ring searches for a new bearer which is Jordan. Once it finds him, Hal becomes a Lantern and is filled with new and inconceivable responsibilities. After his encounter with other Lanterns for further training on OA he is partnered up with the best Lantern in universe Sinestro. Now on his way to be a space cop he learns the true nature behind Abin Sur death and the trade of being a Lantern.
Even though I think it’s a good film. There are a number of problems due to my knowledge of the source material. Many might say that I’m nitpicking and that not knowing the source material doesn’t affect the viewing. Yes but because of my knowledge I have to clarify some things that I didn’t like. First of most of the film does treat the character and the mythos correctly with no huge mistakes. But they are things that are lacking and were changed for stupid reasons. One is the lack of origins story. The way he gets to be a Lantern is speeded up pretty quickly. The reason is said to be by director Lauren Montgomery that is already told in another DC animated film the New Frontier. Something that people will have not probably seen and that is placed in the Golden Age of comics of the 50’s. Quite different origins stories. Same way of getting the ring but no dealing with who Hal Jordan is and where he comes from.
And these aren't the only complaints I’ve got. The origin is kind of changed and I’m talking specifically about the search of Abin Sur killer. In the comics there is a great story with many classic villains, action, mystery and foretold prophecy for future stories which are all lost in the animated film. Probably because they didn’t care or wanted it to be in the live action film that is about to be made but I doubt. Also Sinestro becomes a bad guy in the comics not from the very start and the storyline of the film squeezes in a storyline of many arcs from a 50 year comic book history into the origin film of Hal Jordan within a measly 10 minute battle. You can understand my frustration as how they botched this film up. Also little things of the comics that are so important from issue to issue are missing like how their rings power levels are for example.
Even though it seems that I hate this film I don’t. As with Wonder Woman it has great action, voice acting and direction. DC animation studio is doing a exceptional job. But they should do much more research on how they write their origin and their character development because this film was lacking severely in it. Also a bigger budget for the animation wouldn't be a problem. After all of that I still recommend this film and hope you enjoy it and become a Green Lantern fan like me.
Personal Rating:
Review by Paul
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