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Movie:		8.0
Picture:		9.0
Sound:		9.0
Extras:		9.0
Score:		8.0

Director(s):	Lauren Montgomery
Writer(s):	Alan Burnett
Starring:	Christopher Meloni • John Larroquette • Kurtwood Smith • Michael Madsen • Tricia Helfer • Victor Garber
Genre:	Animation • Comic Book • Sci-Fi
Website:	http://www.warnervideo.com/greenlanterndvd/
Release Date:	July 28, 2009
Rated:

List Price:	Blu-ray - $19.99
Amazon:

DC and Marvel need to do more direct-to-DVD animated movies – these things are pure popcorn munching, comic book nostalgia fun. While Marvel’s have sputtered and died as of late, with decent Iron Man and Dr. Strange films taking back seat to two Avengers flicks, the DC movies just keep steady on a plateau of enjoyable entertainment. Justice League: The New Frontier took the heroic team back into the 1950s while Wonder Woman gave the spotlight over to one of the most underappreciated heroes in DC’s coffers. Green Lantern: First Flight continues the tradition of highlighting the supporting cast of the Justice League with outstanding animation treatment of Earth’s first representative to the Green Lantern Corps of Oa.

Green Lantern fans may debate between which incarnation of the Green Lantern deserved to be the center of this animated film, but I think we can all agree Golden Age Lantern Alan Scott should never have been in the running (and I’m pretty confident he never was). That DC started with Jordan’s receipt of the ring from dying Corps member Abin Sur isn’t much of a surprise if this Green Lantern film is to be the first of a potential series that may (or may not) lead to another animated Justice League movie long before the real-life one even becomes a pre-production reality.

As Abin Sur’s space craft crash lands on Earth, his ring departs to seek out the chosen successor and abducts Hal Jordan, a U.S. Air Force pilot in the middle of a simulator exercise. Before Jordan can begin to understand what’s happening, the ring has mounted itself upon his finger and revealed to him the faintest potential of its abilities. Despite being chosen by the ring, three Green Lanterns are depatched from Oa to retrieve the ring and its new user to meet with the Guardians of the Universe who reside and oversee the happenings of space at the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps. Jordan is accepted with reluctance into the Corps and entrusted to Sinestro for instruction; during this process, Hal learns of the events surrounding the death of his predecessor and finds himself at odds with his new mentor’s methods. Before long a plot to use the recently unearthed yellow element is revealed and Hal must lead the Lanterns against Sinestro and his new source of unimaginable power.

What really impresses about Green Lantern: First Flight is the voice acting which never once pulls you out of the movie. Usually, and this was true of the Wonder Woman movie at times, the stars recruited to voice the leads do little to hide their voice and it becomes so obvious that it’s Alfred Molina or whoever playing the part. I don’t fault Molina for making his role in Wonder Woman so apparent (because he’s such a damn-fine actor) but it detracts from an audience’s ability to lose themselves in the characters if they keep getting reminded that it’s their favorite star voicing the ink. Christopher Meloni as Hal Jordan was a flawless choice – so much so that despite knowing who played who going into it, I couldn’t, for the life of me, bring myself to believe it was Meloni as Jordan. Fantastic. Victor Garber as Sinestro definitely leaks out from behind the animation, but in this case the choice of Garber as the villain works so well (like Molina in Wonder Woman) that we’re willing to forgive the movie. Tricia Helfer also blends incredibly well into the movie as Boodikka, never once making herself that star and instead letting the character shine through. The same can be said of John Larroquette. While I’m slightly annoyed they didn’t have Dennis Haysbert reprise the role of Kilowog from the Justice League animated series days – could you ask for a better replacement than Michael Madsen? The change in voice does change the character, but in the end it breaks even. Then we have Kurtwood Smith as one of the main villains and, well, Kurtwood Smith’s voice is unmistakable no matter what the role. He may be drawn as an alien, but we all see Red from That 70’s Show. Ah well, he’s got a terrific voice.

Lauren Montgomery directed a top-notch animated film that goes above and beyond with only a few setbacks, the most noticeable of which is the 3D animation which is uneven in quality. While the super mega-yellow cannon looks terrific, there’s a sequence with a giant robot that looks like the animation came from an early 90s test-run of amateur animation rendering software. It’s due mainly to the shading and textures, but it’s just so loudly wrong that it can’t be easily ignored.

Video quality? This is Blu-ray and, to truly boast the accomplishments of the format, it’s animation! The colors are sharp, the contrasts are vivid and the animation style takes the viewer back to the days of old-school comic book animation. Everything about this movie is so crisp and beautiful that the Blu-ray treatment deserves consideration when choosing whether or not you opt for the standard or high definition versions.

Blu-ray Bonus Features

Besides coming in a green Blu-ray disc case (which is just kind of cool), the package comes with a standard definition digital copy for the DC fan on the go. And that’s just where the fun begins.

The Blu-ray disc is packed with extras including 5 full Green Lantern-centric episodes of the Justice League animated series as chosen by animation legend Bruce Timm; in true Justice League series fashion, the episodes are two double-parters with nicely written stories – superb and fun to watch. The most important features on the disc are retrospectives on the history of the Green Lantern which, assuming you’ve purchased this, you’ll find quite enthralling and informative. I always enjoy the sociological study of a comic book hero’s impact on cultural history and where it draws its roots from so this kind of featurette really Rogers my Hammerstein. After the three deeply concentrated pieces on the Green Lantern’s history you can skip on by the throw-away “profiles” section of characters before checking out the segments on the other DC animated films – both past and future. If you missed any of the featurettes on the Wonder Woman disc you’ll be able to find a decent sampling of them here as well as with the Justice League: The New Frontier pieces. Finally, you can take a sneak peek at the upcoming Superman/Batman: Public Enemies which looks so deliciously promising and satisfying.

If you’re a comic book lover there’s really no excuse not to buy this, even if Marvel has your allegiance – supporting this kind of movie sends the message to studios that we want as much high quality material on our favorite characters as possible. There’s nothing wrong with that message.