Green Lantern First Flight

• Title:  Green Lantern First Flight
• Director:  Lauren Montgomery
• Date:  2009
• Studio:  Warner Brothers Animation
• Genre:  SF, Action, Animation
• Cast:  Christopher Meloni, Tricia Helfer, John Larroquette, William Schallert
• Format:  Widescreen, color animation
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

Another excellent movie in the DC Animated Universe series.  This one gives us Hal Jordan's origin story and the betrayal of  the Green Lantern Corps by Sinestro in one fell swoop.  And it's Sinestro who initially takes Hal under his wing and starts his training.  But Hal, especially after being set up by Sinestro realizes he's not the "super-cop" or in this case "super Lantern" everyone thinks he is.  So Hal is learning about the corps,  learning to use his powers, and yet still smart enough to realize when something just isn't right.  I also liked Hal's constructs -- witty, useful, and showing us Hal's personality in glowing green light.  This is Hal Jordan.

The story is also very dark at times.  Sinestro kills Keja Ro -- whom he's secretly been working with to find the Yellow Element and construct (or have constructed for him) the Great  Weapon.  He then frames Hal Jordan for the crime, getting the newest Lantern thrown out of  the Corps.  But  Hal isn't willing to go quietly.  When Sinestro shows up on Oa with the Yellow Battery (the Great Weapon)  he does considerable damage, killing countless Lanterns.  One of  the most impressive scenes, in terms of  "wow" factor is after Sinestro destroys the Green Power Battery on Oa, a few minutes later, it rains green rings -- the "sky" is filled with countless rings.  Sinestro explains they are from all the Lanterns in space, unprotected, once the power of the battery was shut off.  The shear size of  Sinestro's crime is almost unimaginable.

Hal, however, tries to help and fight back, and finally a Guardian gets him his ring, Hal charges it through a crack in the Power Battery, then goes after Sinestro -- and what a fight!  These guys are throwing planets around.

By the way -- a lot of  members of  Green Lantern Corps make their appearances:  Sinestro, Kilowog, Bodica, Tamor-Re, even Chip and it's great to see them.  Un-named alien Corps members are also seen in various crowd shots.  It was nice to see they paid attention to the rich Green Lantern history from DC Comics.

Overall, an impressive movie, I recommend it.

Recommendation:  See It

Rating:  4 out of 5 Stars

Next Film:  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone