Summary: - A clever satire which has more of a sting than you might think.Question of the day: - Define a brilliant movie. Proverbial answer: - One which has all the essential elements to ensure a houseful. Truckloads of comic one-liners, attractive love interest, a moustache twirling villain with nefarious plans that involve killing lots and lots of people despite all common sense, the mandatory falling out and reconciliation between the two protagonists – check, check and check! The cliché checklist for The Green Hornet received a healthy workout. So while there are good moments to this film, there really aren’t any original ones. But in theory, that is fine. You know what to expect in these types of movies, and The Green Hornet delivers. There are laughs, and there are some neat explosions. A sure shot fun night out at the movies.
Directed by Michel Gondry, of The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind fame, The Green Hornet had been in gestation for a really long time. It had gone through development hell. A film version of the character had been in contemplation since the 1990s. From Universal Pictures to Miramax, and from there to Sony Pictures and then on to Columbia Pictures; the production rights for this movie have been all over the town. Though the Frenchman was a late recruit to the project, a precious few glimpses of his trademark surrealism are detected. It may be far from Gondry’s best, but he takes every chance to inject some coherent visual flair into the proceedings, not least - a terrific flashback kind scene.
So what exactly is The Green Hornet? It is definitely not your typical Super hero movie. It is a clever satire which has more of a sting than you might think. Sporadically entertaining, it is based on the classic pulp, TV and radio hero, The Green Hornet, who is ironically, not really recognised as the good guy. The protagonist is no super powered freak, rather an unlikely human being who, through assorted circumstances, ends up fighting crime. Albeit backed by a large budget. A short history lesson here - The movie is based on The Green Hornet TV show which will forever feature the asterisk that it was Bruce Lee’s first American vehicle. The 2011 film even includes a cameo of Bruce Lee's picture and 1 inch punch. The role of Kato was the first large role for Bruce Lee in Hollywood and subsequently built the foundation of his later career, since his Kung Fu stunts shown in the series found him his first group of fans and followers. Furthermore, it was Bruce Lee’s astonishing stunts in the series that caused the Kung Fu hype during the sixties. Apart from that, there was a very important social aspect to Lee's starring in the series. In the 1960s of the 20th century, The Green Hornet was the first American TV show ever to have an Asian star as one of the main characters as well as impersonating a hero. In fact, Bruce Lee, although intended as a sidekick, soon became the viewers' favourite character and overshadowed his original boss, the Green Hornet.
In the 2011silver screen adaptation, Seth Rogen plays the title role of dissolute media heir Britt Reid, who finds his true calling after his stern father, Daily Sentinel publisher, James Reid (Tom Wilkinson), dies. Partnering with a former employee of his family's estate, the enigmatic and multi-talented Kato (pop star Jay Chou), Britt and Kato don masks to fight crime. The two form an unlikely bond, fueled by the fact that neither has even begun to crack their potential. While Britt is intelligent but unmotivated, Kato is a gifted engineer and martial artist, who do nothing with either ability. Rather than fighting evil out of altruistic motives, revenge, or a feeling of responsibility, Britt and Kato decide to fight crime because they are bored and think it is fun. So they team up as The Green Hornet and, well, Kato. Kato’s lack of a superhero sobriquet is a running joke in the movie.
The picture’s real interest lies in the burgeoning bromance between Britt and Kato. Rogen and Chou have strong on-screen chemistry, but it mostly falls to Kato to be the straight man while Reid goes completely off-the-wall with his excitement. Rogen brings a childlike enthusiasm to the character who honestly believes he’s the hero even though his contributions to The Green Hornet plan are mostly superficial. He doesn’t even come up with the name “The Green Hornet”; his original idea is “The Green Bee”, which everyone at the newspaper hates and it is Kato who comes up with “Hornet”. But because you can see Rogen having so much fun with the character, that enthusiasm carries the film through its slower moments. While some superhero properties are trying to go dark and gritty, The Green Hornet wants to goof off and have a good time. That light-heartedness and Rogen’s charisma keeps you rooting for Reid even though he’s not particularly good at anything.
Chou makes his American film debut with The Green Hornet, and to many, in the West, he is an unknown – which is insane when you contrast his fame in Taiwan, where he is one of the most popular singers on the planet. Chou has released an album roughly every year since 2000, and each one has sold into the millions. Hence, Chou has the daunting challenge ahead of him of breaking into Hollywood, and despite how his current role might appear, he does so without the mandatory skill set that is sadly required of most Asian actors looking for success in America – that of being a trained martial artist. Chou manages to be charismatic despite some awkwardness which likely stems from the language barrier. (When he began work on the film he did not speak a word of English.) He definitely has the potential for stardom though. Compared to the Green Hornet, as Kato, he makes for a far more interesting, and yet far less explored character.
Christoph Waltz, as the conventional megalomaniac, Chudnofsky, adds absolutely nothing to the character. Waltz is good, but forgettable in the cliché wrapped motivations and dialogue of the character. He is cruel when required; funny, even when not so. Waltz certainly does the sinister side of the character justice, but the comedic elements really fall a little flat.
Cameron Diaz’s mettle as an actor, in her role of the omniscient secretary, is barely utilised. Her character of Lenore “Casey” Case is painfully underdeveloped, and Diaz is, without a doubt, wasted in the role. The character is there, almost entirely, as a plot device, to unwittingly help the Green Hornet and Kato along, then to act as a sort of bizarre love interest. There are hints that Casey has a much deeper back story, but they never bother to discuss it. But the guess is that the scriptwriters intended it to be this way. Any other actor, of lesser star value, would have vanished into the black hole.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg did a fairly credible job crafting this script, which could have been truly horrible, into a fun ride. It is also heavily touting its 3D. While it was not filmed with 3D cameras, but rather converted in post production, Gondry planned ahead and shot the movie with depth in mind. As a result, it is a decent movie to watch in 3D even though it really doesn’t benefit much from it. The 3D is only truly effective in the Kato Vision scenes and the end credits. Kato Vision is a mix of time-distortion and reality-distortion. For example, one car can become five cars, which allows Kato to pick up speed and deliver a flying kick to a thug’s face. But if you see it only in 2D, then you really won’t be missing out on much.
I somehow felt like the screenplay should have been deeper with the character's personalities explored a bit more, like it was with Christopher Nolan's Batman. Nevertheless, the movie is one of the most unique antithesis' to Batman. The take on the deconstruction of the superhero is a fun idea. The Green Hornet plays with convention – rather than the hero losing his beloved parent at a young age, Reid is a grown man who doesn’t care much for his father, and thus the loss of a parent has a different resonance here than it does in most superhero origins. The movie also explores and pokes fun at the conventions of the superhero-sidekick dynamic of the Green Hornet and Kato which is interesting - if not all that surprising or original. The best thing this film has going for it is the potential that it could have in the future - an installment. Now that the obligatory origin story and bonding between Reid and Kato has been accomplished, a sequel could actually be fairly good.
The movie is not perfect. It is hard to have strong feelings about it one way or the other. Neither is there much to love, nor is there anything to really hate. Overall, an admirable attempt at something a little different. The movie doesn’t take itself too seriously, which in the general order of Seth Rogen flicks, has turned out to be marvelous. The film is a comedy that happens to feature action moments, rather than an action film with comic elements. Walk in with zero expectations and you could walk out with your sides in splits. The film has some truly funny moments. For example, a wildly over the top, but entertaining final battle. Honestly, the whole movie would have been hard to pull off if they didn't add that extra comedy. So, if you're looking for a pure escapist fun ride, then look no further than The Green Hornet.
Terrific sequences in Gondry’s upbeat direction style along with Rogen and Chou making a solid double ace do make the movie feel like a perfectly entertaining summer blockbuster, just one that’s happened to land in the middle of January.
