Saturday, September 5, 2009

5Q Movie Review: Green Lantern: First Flight

Q: We know what you're gonna say--this is another excellent DC Animated feature, these movies are all awesome, etc. Should we just skip ahead to that part?
A: Uh, no, because, well, this Green Lantern movie isn't awesome. In fact, I'm kind of disappointed. It has some cool scenes and visuals and is overall a competent production, but that's just it--it's competent, more like the typical Marvel animated features, without the spark or the humor that, say, the recent Wonder Woman movie has.

Q: Are you just hating on Hal Jordan because he's the GL in this one?
A: Actually, he is just one of many Lanterns; it's more a Green Lantern Corps story than a Hal Jordan story. That's fine, but it's just weird, considering DC has spent so much energy pumping up the Jordan character on the comics side, that here he often seems just like another guy. More to the point, his origin and setup is rushed at the beginning to get us into outer space. Now, I'm grateful not to slog through another drawn-out retelling of an iconic superhero origin, but the Hal Jordan character, through no fault of star Christopher Meloni, is more colorless than "green" throughout "First Flight."

Q: Well, what about those cool parts?
A: I like the outer space battles, and there are a lot of them. There is a neat little "Training Day" scenario that plays out with Sinestro and Hal Jordan. There are no bad scenes here (a few illogical ones, mind you), but none that really make the movie stick in the mind, either. But if you want to see a Green Lantern Corps cartoon, this is it, and it's entertaining enough.

Q: Then why are you bitching about it?
A: Hey, Im not bitching! I'm just saying that it doesn't live up to the standards of some previous DC animated features. While there are some intriguing ideas in the story, particularly in Sinestro's motivations, the emotional resonance just isn't there. It's solid but forgettable.

Q: How are the bonus features? Don't these DVDs always have great extras?
A: Well, maybe someone can point out to me what a moron I am, because I rented this from Netflix, got one disc with no option for a second, and could only find one screen's worth of disappointing extras, none of them specific to Green Lantern. What a bummer! What's the deal, Netflix? Or am I just a complete "poozer," to quote Michael Madsen as veteran Lantern Kilowog?

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