Review of Green Lantern: First Flight (2009) by Paul V — 27 Jul 2009

A good movie, but it misses the point of the origin story: Hal Jordan training to become a Green Lantern, not being a prodigy. That being said, the director Lauren Montgomery has said that the film had storyboarded moments of Hal learning how to control his ring but these moments were cut so that the story could focus more on Hal Jordan's adventures in space.

Personally, I felt this omission made Hal's entire exploits rushed as the Hal Jordan we see in the film would have been in control of his ring for weeks if not months, instead of a rookie GL which is how I feel they should have portrayed the character: Hal should have had moments where he couldn't control his ring on command or would produce nonsensical objects (for example, Hal would want his ring to call up a giant hand but instead produces a ten-foot table).

Also, the writers change key facts and details about how the Green Lantern Corps' Core battery works (which also fails to mention how in the comics each Lantern gets his own personal lantern battery to recharge his ring).

The reason I am so critical of the movie is that for non comic fans this may be the first impression of Green Lantern, as the character is not as well known as more recognizable characters like Wonder Woman, Batman or Superman that many people know primarily for their television or movies.

Picky nerd criticisms aside, this is still an engaging action movie. Also, the voice casting was perfect, especially Victor Garber as Sinestro and Tricia Helfer as Boodicka. Still, if you've been following DC's DTV animated films you'll most likely see this one and enjoy it.

If you're just curious about who Green Lantern is this is a good movie and has great animation.