Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)

Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)

Dir. Lauren Montgomery

A Green Lantern origin story in which test pilot Hal Jordan (Christopher Meloni) inherits a power ring and a spandex romper suit and is all too suddenly saving the universe from powerful bad guys.

Hal's chock full of confidence and embraces the role quickly, but that doesn't explain how he's instantly flying around and transporting heavy objects over great distances with no apparent learning curve. It just doesn't bear scrutiny.

Before he can claim full ownership of the power ring, he has to prove himself to a group of elders and to his peers. That part gets more time devoted to it, but isn't without problems of its own, most notably the main bad guy, whose attitude and methods mark him out as such from a mile way.

I understand that the Green Lantern mythology can seem almost impenetrable to people who haven't read the comics, but to focus on the power more than the man in the early stages was unwise. It's handled clumsily, and you'd be forgiven for thinking you're watching a Marvel movie.

The Green Lantern character certainly deserves a good feature-length animation, but First Flight isn't it. The voice work is great, but overall I can't understand why it's so well-liked.

☆  NEXT GL SOLO MOVIE POST  ⊳