A January release actually worth the price of an admission ticket.
After being stuck for many years in development hell, The Green Hornet finally arrives in theaters. With a dreaded January release, fans of the pulp hero most likely don’t have their hopes up. Even with its faults, and it has several, The Green Hornet delivers in action and in comedy, and could easily have been a summer blockbuster.
Kevin Smith, George Clooney, and Jake Gyllenhaal have been just a few of the names attached to this project at some point but it’s had almost as tough a time being released as it did being but into production. With a handful of release date changes pushing it from a 2010 release to January of 2011, it’s a slimmed down Seth Rogen taking on the mantle of a hero who originated in a 1930s radio program. Rogen pulls double duties as he he also penned the script with Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg.
Taking on the title role as Britt Reid, the drunken womanizing scion of newspaper mogul James Reid (Tom Wilkinson), Britt has a rather charmed life that his father James (Tom Wilkinson) doesn’t approve of. With the elder Reid’s unexpected death leaving him adrift even further, Britt finds himself the heir to his father’s legacy and fortune. He squanders this at first, firing the entire staff at his expansive mansion. When he finds his coffee hasn’t been prepared in the way he has become accustomed, he re-hires Kato (Jay Chou). Kato has been James’s mechanic, and expert Cappucino maker, but is also a martial arts expert and all around genius.
Britt comes up with an unorthodox scheme to continue his father’s legacy as a crusader, as well as maximize his and newfound friend Kato’s potential, with an alternate person as The Green Hornet, with Kato becoming his unnamed and masked sidekick. Their goal is to become crusaders by posing as villains, armed with the arsenal Kato has been working on. Britt’s new temp secretary Lenore (Cameron Diaz) also just happens to be an expert in criminology, so they use her to plan out their scheme in bringing down crime in LA.
The two really have no idea what they’re doing, or who they’re messing with. His name is Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz), a smirking baddie who comes across as something between Hans Gruber and any Steven Segal villain. He’s also trying to consolidate crime through Los Angeles, with him at the top in charge of it all of course. Not being able to pronounce his name correctly is a running gag throughout the film, as is demonstrated in one of the opening scenes in the movie with a memorable, unbilled cameo by James Franco.
Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) is known for his unique visual style, and he lends it to The Green Hornet through its slow motion fight scenes and beautiful camera work. The use of 3D has the potential to serve in Gondry’s favor, but sadly the extra dimension adds absolutely nothing. Gondry is talented enough. It’s a unique marriage, Gondry’s visuals and Rogen’s wit, but it works really well.
Diaz isn’t given nearly enough to do, and Waltz does what he can with the screen time he’s given. Tom Wilkinson and Edward James Olmos also aren’t in the film enough to fully develop their characters. So most of the film relies on the chemistry between Rogen and Chou, and they have it in spades. Their banter is charming, even with Chou’s broken English. Some of the movie’s biggest laughs come from the scenes with the twosome.
As they ride through LA in their tricked out car, The Green Hornet and Kato feebly try to vanquish crime with their neverending bag of tricks. The final fight scene is elaborate and unlikely, but also energetic fun. Gondry’s first foray into mainstream cinema is a wild and crazy ride, making The Green Hornet a January release actually worth the price of an admission ticket.
Director: Michel Gondry
Notable Cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz
Writer(s): Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg based on characters created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker
