Skip to main content

The Green Hornet

Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, and Christoph Waltz
Directed by: Michel Gondry
Screenplay by: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

     Can Seth Rogen and Jay Chou be the next great Hollywood duo?  After seeing "The Green Hornet", I don't think so.  This action packed, not-so-funny, comedy of a movie lacks story, decent 3D effects, but contains good action scenes.
     When Britt Reid's (Seth Rogen) father, James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) dies, Britt inherits his father's media empire.  He soon discovers one of the people working for his father who becomes his sidekick, Kato (Jay Chou).  Together they team up as the Green Hornet and fight crime in Los Angeles, controlled by Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz).  Will they be able to stop Chudnofsky while still reporting about the Green Hornet in Britt's newspaper, despite constant tensions between Britt and Kato?
     The biggest problem in this film is the overdramatic acting performed by Rogen.  This kind of film doesn't work well for him.  I think of him as a funny character and one who should be in comedies, not action packed films.  He overreacts to many situations and is too egotistical about being the hero known as the Green Hornet, when he actually doesn't really do much to stop crime.  It's his sidekick Kato that makes the Green Hornet what he really is.  Chou is excellent at playing the constant ass kicker Kato.  The biggest drawback to Kato is his thick accent.  At some times it's hard to understand what he's saying.  Despite this drawback, he's the reason the action is so cool.  He's the one who creates all the action while Britt just basically stands back and watches while trying to help by failing to beat up as many gang members as Kato.  Christoph Waltz is awesome as always.  I am disappointed that we don't see his character Chudnofsky all that much.  Throughout the film, he tries to be a scary middle aged gang leader.  Towards the climax of the film is when he becomes the scariest character in the film, but he still isn't that intimidating.  This isn't a film that will go down as one for its acting.
     The best part of "The Green Hornet" is its action packed scenes.  None of it happens without seeing all the technical aspects of the Hornet's car, filled with tons of cool stuff, like missiles and miniguns, and cool green headlights.  How awesome is that?  Well, the car is just about my favorite part of the movie.  While the explosions and pyrotechnics are pretty awesome, the 3D doesn't have to happen.  If you're planning to see this film while it's still in theaters, don't pay the extra money to see it in 3D.  The 3D effects don't work for most of the film, only in the action scenes.
      Unfortunately, this "The Green Hornet" has its ups and downs.  The downs outweigh the ups, making this a not so great, but a fun to watch if you're bored film.
1 and a half out of 4 stars

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Unknown

Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, and January Jones Directed by:   Jaume Collet-Serra Screenplay by: Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell     "They had me convinced I was crazy.  But when they came to take me I knew."  Identity theft is a major problem in today's world, but it can't get much worse than the situation present in Unknown .       While on a trip to a biotechnology conference in Berlin, Germany, Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) is involved in a car crash putting him in a coma for four days.  He awakens to find out that not only has his identity been taken, but he has been replaced by someone who also claims to be him.  Even his wife Elizabeth (January Jones) claims to not recognize him.  He begins to believe that his entire life has been thrown away, or never existed at all.  As he finds people who can help him remember what happened to him before the crash, he becomes part of a conspiracy involving...

The Hunger Games

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth Directed by: Gary Ross Screenplay by: Gary Ross and Suzanne Collins Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins      If reality television hasn't gone too far yet, then this show should definitely make it go too far.      In a futuristic nation called Panem, one boy and one girl are selected from each of the nation's twelve districts to represent them in an annual television event called the Hunger Games.  Of the 24 contestants, only one will survive in this televised fight to the death.      I like the concept of the story.  While this futuristic society seems somewhat simple, it does not seem all that well developed.  It is unknown how this society came into being, even though it is known how the Hunger Games began.      If this film were released last year, I would have hoped it would be nominated for best make-up.  Many of the characters ...

Django Unchained

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson Directed by: Quentin Tarantino Screenplay by: Quentin Tarantino      I think it's safe to say that this film is the most badass film of 2012.  My only explanation; Quentin Tarantino!!!!      When someone asks what a Quentin Tarantino film is about, I first respond with "that's a good question".  But there is actually a real story behind all of his films, including Django Unchained.        Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) is a bounty hunter in the pre-Civil War South.  He's looking for a group of bandits known as the Brittle brothers.  He comes across a slave in a slave transport known as Django (the D is silent (Jamie Foxx)), who knows where to find the Brittle brothers.  But Django has a wife he wants to find (Kerry Washington).  She's a slave at a plantation owned by Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). ...