Originally Published: August 4, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

Perfectly timed by DC Comics to coincide with the Blackest Night comic saga and news of Ryan Reynolds being cast as Hal Jordan for a live-action movie, Green Lantern: First Flight is the next installment in the DC Comics/Warner Bros. series of animated spectacles dealing with some of DC’s greatest heroes.

Christopher Meloni (Law and Order: SVU) as Hal Jordan, Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) as Kilowog, and Victor Garber (Alias) as Sinestro headline an all-star voice cast brought together by Warner Bros. Animation veteran voice casting director Andrea Romano and directed by another WB vet, Lauren Montgomery.

Green Lantern: First Flight deals with how Hal Jordan, one of the most celebrated of the Green Lantern Corps and founding member of the Justice League, came into possession of the galaxy’s most powerful weapon, a Green Lantern ring. It also goes into depth with the beginnings of his relationship with Sinestro, once thought to be the greatest of all the Green Lanterns, and now Jordan’s greatest foe.

One of the movie’s greatest strengths also may have been its greatest flaw in that Jordan gets his ring within the first five minutes of the movie. Although it throws you right into the action with him having to prove himself against Sinestro, Boodikka, Tomar Re, and Kilowog (all major ranked officers in the Corps) before he gets shipped to Oa (the Green Lantern Universal Headquarters) for basic training, you don’t get a real sense of his relationship with Carol Ferris, his boss and main love interest in the comics, or his love of his job as a test pilot.

It isn’t a major gripe because as a movie watcher it helps hold your attention for the entire 77 minutes, but as a die-hard fan of the Green Lantern mythology, I wanted a little more depth. Not going into Hal’s relationships on Earth left him as a very one-dimensional character when he left for Oa five minutes into the movie.

Another major gripe was the death of Abin Sur, the Green Lantern who bestows his ring to Hal Jordan upon his death. Atrocius, one of the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy, killed Abin Sur in the comics. In the movie, Cuch, a two-bit henchman, killed him to help further the plot that Sinestro is going to betray the Green Lanterns.

This aspect of the storyline disappointed me because it goes against Sinestro’s character to work with anyone in any kind of a partnership. His ego prevents him from being anything but the alpha dog and having him cavort with space pirates in a conspiracy does not do the character justice.

Along with those gripes is the fact that many of the more infamous, non-Earth based Lanterns are killed off including Boodikka, whose character is completely trashed in the movie, and Tomar Re.

Aside from these inconsistencies from the original comic storylines, the movie is actually very good as a stand-alone tale. It establishes the yellow impurity against the green (although again, nothing like in the comics), turns Sinestro evil very early and shows that he is willing to go to any lengths to achieve his means of establishing his order throughout the galaxy, and shows the Lantern Corps’ early distrust of Hal Jordan before he saves them all.

Overall, the movie is solid and should be watched by any fan of the Justice League or the Green Lanterns, especially considering it is only $12.99 at most stores in regular DVD format. If you want to drop a few extra bucks, you can get the 2-disc special edition (like yours truly) and get an extra three hours of content along with a three and a half inch action figure with 14 points of articulation.

The extra DVD features were definitely worth it. From Geoff Johns, long-time Green Lantern writer, talking about the future of the franchise, the purpose of the movie, and the origins of the characters to episodes of Justice League Unlimited and Duck Dodgers featuring the Green Lanterns, the bonus features were just as good as the movie and make this a must purchase for Green Lantern fans.

My critical points aside, Green Lantern: First Flight is an interesting take on the Green Lantern/Hal Jordan origin story. Combined with some great voice acting from all those involved, this was a fun, action packed watch that can hold your attention the whole way through with great bonus DVD features.

Green Lantern: First Flight gets 3 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo