EMERALD COUNTY

EMERALD COUNTY-If Your'e a Smallville Nut like Myself You are impatienly awaiting the arrival of HalJordan/Green Lantern in the sleepy Kansas Town. Well, with the help of this short film We get a little taste of what it might look like. The origin of Hal Jordan's fateful meeting with a strange Alien who trusts Him with His ring of legend is slightly altered for this film. In EC a teenage Hal Jordan stumbles upon a Green Lantern and ring after a glowing green meteor crashed into Emerald County soil. Emeral County takes place in Emerald County High where We meet our main characters Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner (the only person aware of Hal's powers). When a new girl named Carol Ferris (played by Katrina Schiermeier) arrives at Emerald County High Hal and Guy take notice. Carol was placed in the small town High School by Her father because of Her checkered past. Unlike Clark Kent, Hal seems to have a little more backbone and decides to flirt with the new girl. After school Carol runs into Hal working in the cafe His Mother owns and they get to know each other a little better. When heading back to the parking lot Carol is kidnapped by a masked Gunman and taken to an abandonned warehouse. Guy and Hal put the pieces together after finding Carol's cell phone and receiving a frantic phone call from Her. Using His Power Ring Hal races to Her rescue. I know what Mr. Black and crew were striving for when making this short and I felt they achieved it for the most part. The Smallville/WB style influence was an obvious featuring a teen friendly soundtrack and the Smallville rule of color coordinated outfits for the main characters (Hal wears green and white, Carol wears purple, etc.) And like Smallville the main Hero and villain start of as friends (In comics Carol eventually becomes supervillain Star Sapphire) and later become bitter enemies. Joeseph Black played a likeable Hal Jordan, But the character needed to loosen up a bit. I know this is a year one style approach to the characters, but We all know Hal Jordan as being very sure of Himself, and kind of cocky, so the teen version should be a little closer to that. But like I mentioned earler Hal seems to be less shy than Clark Kent so kudos for that. Bobby Jackson, who plays Guy Gardner in the film, certainly looks the part and occasionaly seems like a bit of a Wise Guy, but since Guy is known for being one of the biggest A-Holes in Comics He needed to turn up the Wise Ass meter a bit more. Since this seems to be the first film in a possible series I'm sure Guy, and the rest of the cast will gradually take on more of the character traits and mannerisms We all know from the Green Lantern books. This is a very good start overall, so I hope Mr. Black and Crew return with more adventures of young Hal and Friends. Also, look for some well executed special effects in the film, the sequence When Hal uses His ring to power up and take off into the sky is particullarly well done. To check out Emerald County please click HERE. You can check out some exclusive promo pics of the cast by clicking HERE.