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
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
