January 20, 2011
Dir: Michael Gondry
This review was written for Watch Out For
Okay so we’ve done Superman, Spider-Man, uh ... Batman, don’t forget Batman, hmm, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man ... what can we spend $90 million on now?
The Green Hornet will divide audiences, this we can be certain of. There will be those who will laugh almost constantly, find the action thrilling, the dialogue cracking and will think Rogen the perfect fit for the lead. Then there are those that may find themselves experiencing the longest 2 hours of their lives. I would have to sway more to the latter.
The Green Hornet isn’t the most well known of the superhero franchises so here’s the rundown.
Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is an often disappointing son to his billionaire father (Tom Wilkinson), the usual story - a cocktail of booze, parties and women, the whole not living up to his potential thing.
When his father dies unexpectedly Britt inherits The Daily Sentinel, a newspaper his father owned and operated. After meeting Kato (Jay Chou), the man responsible for maintaining his father’s cars and making the best cup of coffee Britt has ever tasted (yes, the coffee is actually used to bring the two leads together), the two decide to decapitate the memorial statue of Britt’s father. As would happen they stumble across a mugging and after Kato defeats the gang Britt decides they should become superheroes, as you do.
So The Green Hornet is created, a quasi-superhero whose real power lies in his sidekick Kato. The pair use newly appointed secretary Lenore (Cameron Diaz) to gather information about what moves to make next, that is, they have no idea what they’re doing. Using his own newspaper, Britt builds a negative public profile of The Green Hornet so people will think he’s dangerous when in reality he’s fighting crime and evil, including taking down the LA drug ring run by Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz).
The Green Hornet is a tough film to work out and raises a number of questions. Were the people who expected director Michael Gondry to revolutionise the superhero movie with some indie sensibilities being set up for disappointment from the very beginning? Is it fair to label a film ‘turn brain off and enjoy’? Can a film’s special effects supersede the lack of character motivation and overall plot?
Let’s start with the performances. There’s a delightful cameo from James Franco at the start of the film which instilled a bit of hope in me. Sadly his appearance was just that, a cameo, and with his character’s demise my little bit of hope died too. The two standout performances would have to be Jay Chou as Kato who saves, and steals, many scenes from Rogen. Christoph Waltz as the drug lord Chudnofsky, whose name no one can say, is mostly underutilised but decidedly brilliant whenever on screen.
Rogen, along with Cameron Diaz, could easily have been replaced in the film. Diaz’s character was completely unnecessary and obviously inserted for a token love interest as well as providing overly specific information to the two heroes. While Rogen penned the script with Evan Goldberg (Superbad) perhaps he should have shown some modesty and not taken the lead.
The plot is underdeveloped, this cannot be denied. How one goes from hating his father and decapitating a tribute statue, to becoming a masked vigilante known as The Green Hornet, is poorly swept over in the sea of a montage – Rogen drawing pictures of possible costumes while Kato does all the real work, building the cars and preparing the weapons. It’s a case of the sidekick being not only more talented but far more interesting than the superhero. In fact, Britt may just be one of the most annoying characters in recent memory. Coupled with more than a handful of failed jokes, it’s quite hard to rally for him as our hero.
Despite the lack of consistency The Green Hornet is a funny film – what, did I just say something positive about the film? For fans of Goldberg and Rogen’s previous romps together, including Pineapple Express, the humour will hit home and you’ll find the film entertaining. For others the comedy will be hit and miss, the jokes often going on too long and being too repetitive.
If it’s the action you’re going to see then rest assured there’s car chases, explosions and shoot em ups a plenty. The action aspect of the film is impressive and thanks to Jay Chou’s amazing martial arts skills, the fight scenes really shine. The 3D is underused in the film, offering little more than depth and wasting plenty of opportunities to use the tool for what it’s really intended – entertaining the audience who have to sit there with glasses on for two hours.
As with the film on the whole, the action scenes soon elevate to a ridiculous level. It’s over the top filmmaking which some will delight in. Here’s where we ask if it’s okay to label a film ‘turn brain off and enjoy’? I think absolutely. There’s no substance or hidden messages in The Green Hornet, what you see is what you get, so if you need to turn your brain off to enjoy it go ahead.
3 / 5
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