Starring Seth Rogen and Directed by Micheal Gondry.
First appearing in The Green Hornet radio program in 1936 created by George W.Trendle and Fran Striker, Britt Reid and his crime fighting partner Kato have gone through various reincarnations. From the aforementioned radio program to film serials, a television program in the 1960’s and multiple comic book series from the 1940’s onwards. Seth Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg (who has also collaborated with Rogen for writing duties on Knocked Up, Superbad, Pineapple Express and Funny People) have taken the character to silver screen for 2011.The premise of this film interested me from a piece I had read in Empire magazine at the end of 2010. The Green Hornet was one of the few comic book incarnations that I had never heard of before so I was instantly attracted to the piece. As a fan of Seth Rogen, I was interested in how he was going to morph himself from a comedian to a crime fighter. Usually, Seth Rogen plays similar characters who we feel sympathy for, 2006’s Knocked Up, 2009’s Funny Guys, or the comedy sidekick in 2007’s Superbad. However in The Green Hornet he is the embodiment of Britt Reid, arrogant, un-likeable and frivolous.
We have the other side of the coin in Britt’s companion Kato, played by Jay Chou. Kato only comes to Britt’s attention because of his coffee making skills. What unravels after their initial meeting is that Kato is adept at building and modifying cars to include bullet proof glass and a record player, morphing these skills into creating the crime fighting team’s car The Black Beauty. Britt and Kato also have one thing in common – hatred for newspaper tycoon James Reid (Britt’s father). This hatred unifies the pair and they set about defacing a statue of James Reid. This unwittingly causes both men to be some what involved in saving a couple from a mugging and showcasing Kato’s martial arts abilities. Thus the idea to clean the streets of LA is born.
One of the small details I liked during Kato’s introduction to the audience were the sketches of Bruce Lee in Kato’s book, Lee originally playing the part of Kato in the 1960’s TV version of The Green Hornet. This small attention to detail infused me with the sense that everyone involved in this film had done their homework.
Christopher Waltz plays crime lord/drug lord Benjamin Chudnofsky to great comedic effect. His turn in Inglorious Basterds as ‘The Jew Hunter’ was truly terrifying and in this film he brings that element, but with a twist of a classic 1960’s villain, always trying to out wit the hero to no great affect. Cameron Diaz plays Lenore Case, hired as Britt’s secretary and a love interest of sorts for both our crime fighters. Now usually I enjoy Cameron Diaz’s performances but in this film she doesn’t really do much, obviously the eye candy for the male population (as if guns in the doors of a car weren’t enough) she is supposed to be intelligent with both journalistic and criminal psychology qualifications behind her, however both of these attributes are never utilised except to further the plot. Britt refers to her as ‘A smart gal’ at one point which, in my opinion undermines the role completely.
This film never fully utilises its 3D tag. As I’ve felt with many 3D films I’ve been to see, the makers of these films seem to forget half way through and stop bothering. Kato’s first fight uses the effects to great success but that’s about it for the three dimensions. That’s not to say the effects and action aren’t impressive through out the film though, Chudnofsky versus our ‘heroes’ in the final chase scene is both funny and violent.
Kayleigh xxx
