While fans wait with bated breath for the latest comic book movies, it's good to see Marvel and DC filling the gap with some animated adventures to help us pass the time. Done well (as with Batman: Gotham Knight and Wonder Woman), these pictures match their big-screen counterparts in terms of fun and quality. However, there are ones like Green Lantern: First Flight, which take lesser-known heroes and provide little reason to see them tear things up in three dimensions. I've no doubt the Green Lantern is as deserving of cinematic justice as the Man of Steel, but if First Flight is any indication, he'd be better off remaining on the printed page.

Those unfamiliar with the Green Lantern's origins won't find the backstory they've been seeking here. Instead, First Flight breezes through how pilot Hal Jordan (voice of Christopher Meloni) came to serve in an intergalactic police force, opting to see him off on his first escapades. Under the wing of senior officer Sinestro (voice of Victor Garber), Hal comes to witness the crime and treachery that runs rampant throughout the cosmos. Soon after being recruited, Hal joins in the hunt for a ruthless gangster (voice of Kurtwood Smith) who's found a threat to the source that powers the entire Green Lantern Corps. Little does the fledgling hero know that the real threat is closer than he thinks with Sinestro plotting to seize this newfound power and exploit it for his own diabolical designs.

What usually happens with DC's animated features is that there's too much story to fit within their hour-and-change running times; with First Flight, there's not enough. On the one hand, I can appreciate the DC crew for not wanting to do another origin story. Those duties were taken care of in Justice League: The New Frontier, and the upcoming Ryan Reynolds adventure will likely recount the tale as well. But if you're like me and know little about the character, you expect some background info; First Flight tosses out what it's willing to part with before the beginning credits have rolled. This would've mattered little, had the story been worth the rushed introduction. It's sort of done as a space-age film noir, with butt-ugly aliens instead of thugs and magical rings instead of pistols. But after you figure out everything in the first ten minutes (gee, maybe the guy named Sinestro is up to no good?), the film turns into a glorified light show more likely to preoccupy grade-schoolers than die-hard comic fans.

But let's take a moment to look at the Green Lantern himself. As I mentioned, I'm a stranger to the character, so I can't gauge whether or not First Flight is a faithful representation. Talk about a superhero who's almost too super! Superman has more than his fair share of powers, but at least his movies take the time to ponder them and consider how wisely they should be used. The Green Lantern, on the other hand, uses his souped-up ring to conjure whatever his noble heart desires. A giant net to rescue his comrades? You got it. A giant swatter to clobber a pursuing alien? Why not? There comes a point when First Flight stops being a superhero movie and becomes a deus ex machina dispenser; there's no suspense when you know Hal will whip up the right thing to get him out of a jam. But in spite of this, First Flight lets its fun flag fly on occasion. Its style of animation appears quite distinctive, the action sequences look very  colorful, and the actors seem fit as a fiddle for their roles. Meloni appropriately turns Hal Jordan into the ideal everyman, Garber drips with suave villainy, and who better than Michael Madsen's gruff vocals to bring Hal's hulking teammate Kilowog to life.

Pound for pound, the DC folks are more consistent with animated escapades than Marvel, though they too are prone to the odd speed bump. Green Lantern: First Flight ranks alongside Superman Doomsday among the comic giant's lesser works. It's a film big on sight and sound but curiously lacking what makes the best superhero films so darn good: heart.

MY RATING: ** (out of ****)

(Released by Warner Home Video and rated "PG-13" for sequences of sci-fi action violence.)