The Green Hornet is a disjointed jumble of gag laughs, goofy stunts, and bizzare casting. Director Michel Gondry, known for more artsy faire (Be Kind Rewind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), has tremendous skill as a director; but is unfortunately out of place here. His style choices for this film, especially the action scenes, are not fluid and adds to an overall clunky feeling. I can't help but think a more mainstream director would have been better suited to make this kind of movie. The Green Hornet is actually a remake of a forties serial which was adapted again into a classic sixties TV series. The TV show was short lived, but introduced the world to one of the baddest ass mofo's in cinema history – Bruce Lee. I seriously doubt this version of The Green Hornet will turn Jay Chou into a star, but stranger things have happened…read more [MovieWeb]
Seth Rogen and Jay Chou in The Green Hornet
Three quarters of a century after it debuted as a radio serial (and later a short-lived 1960's TV series) The Green Hornet is roaring onto the big screen with Seth Rogen turning the tale of the masked vigilante into a buddy comedy with villains that aren't in on the joke. Nevertheless, there is plenty of action and (converted) 3D hijinks to make this a fanboy hit over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. Long-term prospects would seem iffier stateside but thanks to Rogen and Asian pop star Jay Chou's onscreen chemistry this one should definitely find success internationally…read more [BoxOffice Magazine]
The new film adaptation of “The Green Hornet'' raises a few intriguing questions. What if a superhero didn't just pretend to be a loud, obnoxious creep as part of his secret identity but really was a loud, obnoxious creep? What if his sidekick turned out to have all the talent? And what would happen if the slaphappy French filmmaker Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,'' “Be Kind Rewind'') tackled a big-money action extravaganza?
We have our answers. The first half of “Green Hornet'' undermines every promise a superhero movie is supposed to make with genuinely subversive comic verve. It's off-putting, rude, misshapen, and more often than not hysterically funny. The second half, sadly, is an ear-splitting train wreck…read more [Boston.com]
Jay Chou in The Green Hornet
Rather than a $90 million Gondry head trip à la The Science of Sleep or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the largely retro-fitted 3-D action extravaganza is a $90 million Seth Rogen comedy (he stars and also co-wrote). The indestructible vehicle that the masked, crime-fighting Green Hornet (Rogen) drives is this eminently swat-able movie's overly optimistic metaphor for itself. Gondry may specialize in fantasies about fantasy, but abandon all hope that The Green Hornet is a whimsically ramshackle blockbuster like the “sweded” remakes in his Be Kind Rewind. The Green Hornet provides a half-hour's worth of mildly entertaining travesty before collapsing in a clamor of bombastic action sequences and lame wisecracks. As slapstick, the movie peaks early, with a frenzied slo-mo montage of the star's frantic, drunken revelry, complete with projectile flying out the window of L.A.'s Standard Hotel…read more [The Village Voice]
The Green Hornet Posters
Because the film doesn't come out for another few weeks or so, there won't be any major spoilers or anything like that in this article (its only fair). What you can know is that The Green Hornet is a pretty entertaining film. More a comedy than an actual action film, fans of Rogen's past work will enjoy it greatly. Rogen co-wrote the script with writing partner Evan Goldberg and lost a lot of weight to pull off the socialite Britt. Rogen plays the character well and his humor, especially opposite Chou, works. Just like in the TV show, Bruce Lee was the straight laced side kick who did most of the work, Chou's Kato fits the character to a T. Kato is the martial arts expert who can trick out anything mechanical yet Chou's Kato also has some great one liners that get the bigger laugh over Rogen…read more [We Got This Covered]
Cameron Diaz and Seth Rogen in The Green Hornet
The opening sequence showed promise, with Waltz's Chudnofsky oozing Inglourious Basterds menace in a confrontation with a rival mobster (unbilled James Franco who, as usual, understands the material). Then Rogen — who co-wrote the screenplay — goes to work undermining that promise in a vain search for laughs.
His Britt Reid isn't a square-jawed straight arrow but a privileged playboy with daddy issues. James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) is a crusading newspaper editor disgusted with his son's life choices, and deservedly so. James suddenly dies from a bee sting — no revenge motive there — and Britt reluctantly takes charge of the paper, which no board of directors would allow…read more [Tampabay.com]
The Green Hornet Movie Photo Gallery
I hesitate to say Chau stole the show as Kato because just about every role was played effectively for what was needed. Rogen was quite good as Britt Reid, showing inexperience and eagerness while remaining just grounded enough to remain believable. Christoph Waltz was excellent as the criminal kingpin who is pegged as being past his time. Only Cameron Diaz failed to stand out as Reid's secretary and the duo's source of research information.
Looking back on the film I do wonder whether the ends justified the means, eventually the motivations and plans for Britt and Kato evolved, but even then it remains questionable whether the goal of “helping people” was really achieved. They left a lot of destruction in their wake, and though most of that was inflicted on criminals, there certainly would have been innocents caught up in that including the police who are act as a completely faceless entity here…read more [Pastapadre]
My final verdict would be that The Green Hornet is a fun superhero flick that may not be for everyone. Yes it is different from the series from 1966, but it does not ignore those routes so keep your eyes and ears peeled for homages. So for fans of the character it may not be for you but if your looking for some good entertainment, humor, and great action sequences The Green Hornet is the way to go. The only thing that truly depressed me was that originally Green Hornet is the Great Great Nephew of The Lone Ranger, which was left out due to different studios owning the rights to each character. Again hardcore fans may not like it but I think it is great for the average movie goer. 3.5 out of 5 stars…read more [ComicBook Movie]
The Green Hornet Movie Info
Running time: 115 minutes
Rated: PG-13; action violence, profanity, brief sensuality and drug content
Cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, Tom Wilkinson, David Harbour, Edward James Olmos
Director: Michel Gondry
Genre: Action | Crime | Thriller
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Budget: $90,000,000
Official Movie Web Site: www.greenhornetmovie.com
Opens: Friday, Jan. 14, 2010.
The Green Hornet Video Review
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keL8CKTG2To[/youtube]
