retro-the-best....: [New post] Green Lantern- First Flight (review)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

[New post] Green Lantern- First Flight (review)

Green Lantern- First Flight (review)

dailypop | March 10, 2011 at 8:43 pm | Tags: dc animation green lantern first flight justice league, filmation superman green lantern flash hawkman teen titans, green lantern corps sinestro corps war | Categories: cartoons, Green Lantern | URL: http://wp.me/p4kUt-2oA

2009 Movie trailer
watch?v=QPMDMdIRJI8&tracker=False

The fourth release from DC Animation, Green Lantern: First Flight had a daunting task ahead of it, one that the forthcoming Martin Campbell live action feature starring Ryan Reynolds faces. A Golden Age superhero that was adapted for the space age by John Broome, Gil Kane and Julius Schwartz in 1959. Modeled loosely on E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman novels, Green Lantern was a galactic policeman armed with a magical ring limited only by the bearer's imagination and will power. Along with similarly revived characters such as the Flash, Atom and Hawkman, Green Lantern was a hit with readers. As the comic developed, so did Green Lantern's world, including a vast array of aliens who made up the intergalactic Green Lantern Corps. Back-up features by some of the best names in the business including Alan Moore fleshed out the mythology of Green Lantern, making it into a special kind of comic book universe in its own right. Popularity waned over the years, the face of the lead character changed, cancellations and restarts abounded.

On TV, Green Lantern was most well known due to his depiction in Super-Friends, where he sported a tan and rich Shakespearean tenor voice. Often cited as the most powerful member of the Justice League alongside Superman, Green Lantern was repeatedly done in by a weakness to the color yellow and his thoroughly evil arch nemesis Sinestro.

The direct to DVD DC Animation projects started with Superman/Doomsday have been a huge success with fans of both the animated series on TV and the comics books as well. When a full length animated feature was announced centered on Green Lantern, fans were ecstatic. First Flight arrived at what many considered the peak of Green Lantern's popularity, the character having been only recently brought back into popularity in monthly comics.

A reckless test pilot, young Hal Jordan is chosen by the ring of fallen Green Lantern Abin Sur. Granted special abilities by the ring, Jordan takes on the moniker of Green Lantern and uses his powers to defend the innocent from unusual enemies. He is soon intercepted by a small group of aliens (also wearing rings and uniforms similar to his own) who are investigating Abin Sur's death. The red-skinned Sinestro stands up for Jordan and they travel back to Oa, the home world of the Green Lantern Corps, governed by the all-powerful Guardians of the Universe. No one is especially happy that a human being from the planet Earth has somehow received a ring as they are considered less developed than the rest of the universe, an attitude that raises Jordan's self-righteous streak. This attracts Sinestro who appears to see a kindred spirit in Jordan and takes him under his wing as a mentor.

With the elder Corpsman as his guide, Jordan is exposed to the seedier parts of the alien universe and also to Sinestro's ruthless tactics. He is outraged but also rather humbled by the egocentric Sinestro's ranting that the universe at large is in disarray and requires a firm hand to set it straight, something that the Corps is incapable of doing due to the bureaucratic restrictions of the Guardians. It soon becomes apparent that Sinestro is not only a loose canon, he is a master villain in the making and only Hal Jordan can stop him.

The animated feature firmly establishes not only Hal Jordan as a character but the world of Green Lantern, complete with his chief villain Sinestro. A former Green Lantern himself, Sinestro is a power-mad zealot with dreams of galactic conquest. In the retroactive continuity of Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn, Sinestro was rewritten to be Hal Jordan's mentor when he was first drafted into the Corps. The animated feature captures this angle quickly and efficiently.

While the artwork and voice acting are (as usual) of a high caliber, the real star of this project is writer Alan Burnett (of Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond and Justice League fame). The language can get a bit unnecessarily salty, but the successful adaptation of such a vast amount of material is simply staggering. In one film, Burnett develops Hal Jordan's life on Earth, Kilowog, Boodikka, Sinestro, Kanjar Ro, the Guardians of the Universe and more, something that would take months of comics to accomplish. What's more, it all fits together as one neat package.

The one draw back (aside from the occasional gutter language that I find unnecessarily crass) is that the ring-battles can be a bit tedious. However, these sequences do firmly portray that the ring is powered by the wearer's willpower, an impressive feat. There are also numerous moments where characters are struck by or absorb massive amounts of energy, causing them to scream like maniacs from an anime feature. But these are minor quibbles, really.

For decades, despite a wealth of potential or characters like Green Lantern were wasted opportunities on the page. Products like the Green Lantern: First Flight feature film and the upcoming sequel are just what the doctor ordered. Exciting stories that pull from the many threads started in the comic book or in other cartoons, this movie is a perfect realization of the ring-slinging superhero. In fact, the 2011 live action Green Lantern film should take pointers from this movie and I hope that it has.