DC’s newest direct-to-video animated feature premiered in homes last week. After tackling the big three in solo DVDs and an old-school version of Justice League it looks like it’s time to start focusing on the characters that mass audiences might not know*. But is moving away from the big guns of the DCU a good thing or should they stick with the headliners? You make the popcorn and I’ll find the remote as we take Green Lantern: First Flight off of the DVD Rack!

When dealing with a character like Green Lantern that isn’t a marquee name you go in expecting an origin story. Newbies need an introduction to someone they don’t know and that’s doubly true when dealing with a somewhat foreign concept like the Corps.I’ll be honest with you, I was not without an amount of dread when I began this movie. I feared a long, drawn-out origin story bogged down with characters that aren’t given to time to develop and are inconsequential. Second half of Wonder Woman, I’m looking at you.

I’m happy to report that this is very much not the case this time around. While the film is an origin story to be sure, we are only on Earth for a few minutes before Hal Jordan finds the power ring ad is flung off to the deep reaches of space. The story certainly bolts to a breakneck speed as we’re introduced to the Corps., the Guardians and Sinestro (still playing the role of the chief Green Lantern) mere minutes into the film. The only event to actually take place on Earth is original Lantern Abin Sur’s death and Sinestro’s team picking up Jordan and bringing him to Oa.

The second and third acts aren’t what I’d call revelatory in a Green Lantern script, but the creators certainly knew which aspects of the lore worked and which ones to leave by the wayside. As someone who always liked the concept of the Lantern more than the actual book, this film gets a lot more right than it does wrong. Sinestro’s turn tot he dark side (yellow side?) isn’t shoehorned into the plot, but progresses naturally – even if it’s choreographed by his name being Sinestro. The changing alliance of some of the Corps. members also makes sense and keeps you guessing as to which side they’re really on.

As for the artwork, the style is a sleeker version of the Bruce Timm dynamic from the previous DC animated series. The colors are much more vibrant here, as you’d expect with all that green and yellow energy shooting around the screen. Some of the more … interesting looking Corps. members are actually worked quite well in the physical universe. There are a few I didn’t think they’d be able to have move fluidly, but I was definitely wrong on that count. They did their homework even for the backgrounds and background characters (which is fortunate because there are a lot of crowd scenes on Oa).

The special features aren’t really something to write home about, although there is one interesting piece above the others. We get the usual “making of” vignette, a look at the “Blackest Night” series from the books, a preview of the DC Animated feature and some random episodes of other DC series (most of these are not on the single disc DVD edition). For those that bought the Blu-Ray edition there is a min-documentary about the symbolism of the ring in literature. This is an excellent idea for a bonus feature for these types of DVDs as it’s only different from what else is out there but it reinforces the uniqueness of a lot of comic books. Plus, strengthening the idea of comics being a legitimate art form never hurt anyone, right?

In all, this has been the best DC animated feature to date. It combines the best aspects for the previous films and strikes some new ground on its own. The biggest problem in the past was always the pacing of the plot which has not only been fixed but superseded on this go-round. They may have gone a little celebrity happy with the casting, but so long as the voices work then I’m fine with that. I still wonder why they bother putting out the single disc DVD edition, especially given the small difference in price, but as someone who is slowly adopting the Blu-Ray format it’s becoming less of an issue.

If you’re a fan of the DCU or animation in general this is definitely a disc that should be in your collection. I’m hoping that the following projects from the studio are as good as this or might even continue the trend of bettering themselves with successive editions.

As a quick end note: Stop making the digital copies Windows-only. Yes, I use a Mac and I’d like to watch things on my computer too. It’s not that difficult to program the videos into Quicktime, people.

*Except this is apparently a lie as the next feature is going to be an adaptation of a Jeph Loeb storyline from his run on Superman / Batman. Good, because we definitely need more exposure for these characters. We’ve certainly seen too much of people like Dr. Fate or the Creeper. Hell, how about giving the Flash his due with a DVD? If Dr. Strange and the Avengers’ kids can get their own movies …