So, I actually got curious about the Green Lantern animated movie, and went ahead and watched it.
Green Lantern: First Flight
Starring Christopher Meloni and Victor Garber
(...um, who? On both counts.)
Though I once loved the DC animated universe (DCAU), I've been a bit let down by some of the more recent offerings (take
Justice League: The New Frontier for instance... a film with no soul to call its own). Setting aside my prejudices (if Kevin Conroy ain't growling it ain't Batman!), I approached this one with trepidation. And, it's not so bad. I'm giving it
Three and a Half Stars, and you can pop yourself another half a star on there if you were already predisposed towards liking the subject matter (i.e. a not-so-mainstream superhero with the power to use a ring to create green constructs nearly as huge and powerful as his ego). As usual, I enjoyed things much more before they got too epic, and I felt the third act was an inevitable dive into anime-inspired conflict. I did, however, enjoy the character interaction, and I liked that the more complicated characters' motives were maleable to suit the progression of the story (I mean, they weren't "I'm a bad guy! Black and white! Raaar!"). When I say complicated characters, I'm not talking about Hal Jordan (the eponymous Green Lantern on his first day at kindergarten) who was, regretfully, given all the backstory one might invest in the Monopoly top hat, and that includes the little story you make up about it using a shiv as its new "Get Out of Jail Free" card. Voice acting was good in the majority, Ganthet sounded like he was making fun of his own character, Chip the Lovable Squirrel (oh, how I wish I had made that up) was standard "kids might watch it, let's make a cutey character!" fare. Animation was okay, CGI was, as always, too obvious and didn't fit with the animation style. Crayon was, as usual, a little too critical of the details.
Pirate.
