Green Hornet - Movie No. 21

The Green Hornet

Director: Michel Gondry

Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou and Christoph Waltz

Year: 2011

Watched: 22/1/11

What the Fudge is it?

Britt Reid is a bit of a waster. Following the death of his father he decides to become a masked crime fighter, he has no talent so his side kick does most of the work.

What I Thought...

i like Seth Rogan and he funny laugh so i was excited about this film....apart from the 3D of course. Britt Reid (rogan) is a rich party boy. His father on the other hand owns a newspaper and is a well respected journalist. After the death of his father Britt decides to drop the martinis and strippers for a mask and sexy car. No he isn't into dogging and bondage (thats the green horny) he has decided to fight crime.

There has been a pattern recently of exploring super heroes darker sides. We saw it in batman, watchmen and iron man. Its an important part of a superhero that he has human traits and a darker side. Iron man is not a superhero in the traditional way he is a normal dude who has the ability to be one, same as batman. For me the green hornet is a regular guy, he doesnt even have any skills. He cant really make cool shit or solve crimes he is just a regular guy. The newest movie adaptation does nothing to change that view. Rogans Green hornet is a jerk with very few redeeming features. There should be a balance between the assy side of a hero and the nice. With the green hornet these isn't that balance. Even when apologizing the character comes across sarcastic and cowardly. Rogan has nailed he jerk side of the character but i dont know if it is down to the script or direction or acting but we never see the other side.

Kato is a great character, so we know he makes cool shit and can kick the crap into any amount of men at one time. The making of cool stuff is the usual run of the mill montages of building, testing and building some more before grand unveiling. All this looks great where the film stumbles is with the fighting sequences. I cannot understand why the director would think it is cool to show how Kato sees fights in the way he has. During fight scenes we see what i can only describe as Kato 2000 vision. It appears Kato can show down times in his head and enemy items appear red. This is ridiculous, I know it is a representation but it sticks out like a sore thumb and is very stupid. Much like the scene in Doom when it went into first person mode i let out a little disappointed sigh as if a stripper just removed her to to reveal a hairy chest.

Christopher Waltz pops up as a slightly camp and aging gangster. i enjoyed his performance but it didnt seem too far from inglorious. For me one of the best scenes was when his character confronted a younger gangster (James Franco). It was a nice comparison to how we now see villains in movies compared to the traditional ways.

Overall

Some ok gags and action but for me it was ruined by Kato vision and 3D. When people are producing movies like Iron Man and the Dark Knight this run of the mill poop aint gonna cut it.

2/5