In 1936, George W. Trendle created The Green Hornet, a radio series following wealthy newspaper mogul Britt Reid who fights crime as a vigilante known as The Green Hornet, who is thought to be a criminal. Britt is aided by his martial arts trained valet Kato as a sidekick and battles the city's underworld and scum. The series became an instant hit and was one of the world's first superheroes - this was even before Superman or Batman came around. The series inspired a comic book, several serials and a hit TV show that starred Van Williams and introduced Bruce Lee (who was more of the hero) to the world. Many film studios such as Universal and Miramax attempted to start a film franchise off the hero but it never got off the ground - until now.
Out of all the people who could have directed or starred in the film, Sony Pictures chose Seth Rogen, known for his stoner comedies to play the hero and write the film and art house visionary director Michel Gondry to direct. Seth Rogen was bashed for being too fat to play a hero but he lost weight and even though being an unlikely choice to play the hero, Rogen managed to write it into being the type of movie he would usually star in.
In this somewhat parody of superhero films, Britt Reid is an irresponsible son of newspaper mogul James Reid who bashes his son. When James dies, Britt is stuck in charge of The Daily Sentinel and doesn't know what he will do in life. One day, Britt meets his father's mechanic and coffee maker Kato. This version of Kato doesn't live up to Bruce Lee but is badass and one of the best things about this film. Britt and Kato stop a mugging one night and decide to become superheroes who pose as criminals to get close to the bad guys.
Despite being the title character and being labeled the hero in headlines, Kato is the real hero here. This annoyed me because even though Kato did most fighting in the original series, Britt could also kick some ass. In this version, Britt is lazy as hell and only manages to shoot his gas gun twice and punch one dude before getting beaten up. I enjoyed that Britt pokes fun at how he has no skills but is still the hero and Kato does everything but is the sidekick.
Cameron Diaz has a small and disapointing part as Lenore, the secretary who Britt and Kato fight over. Despite being too old to be a hot assistant, Rogen pokes fun at this by actually telling Lenore that she is old. Christoph Waltz is great as the flamboyant and desperate gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky, who vies to be scary and become a supervillain known as Bloodnofsky, which makes his henchmen laugh at him. One of the best things about this film is James Franco's awesome cameo as rival gangster Danny "Crystal" Clear, who calls Chudnofsky a disco grandpa and is killed in return. If they make a sequel, I hope Clear returns because he was one of the best things about the film and it could be possible he survived his death.
Michel Gondry is used to make small-budget films that are unique and visionary and so this film was sort of strange for him to tackle. He uses his retro look at things to give us Kato Vision - a mode where we see the world through the eyes of Kato - which is awesome and I heard is even better in 3D. The Black Beauty would make Batman and Iron Man jealous in seconds and Kato is a better sidekick than War Machine or Robin. Despite getting mixed reviews from critics and audiences, I enjoyed this film and thought it was a blast but I was having mixed bag feelings if this was a superhero film with humor (Iron Man) or a comedy with superhero elements (Kick-Ass or Red). Those films worked because they knew what type of film they were and this film doesn't because it is caught between satire, comedy and gritty brutal violence making it sort of cheesy. However, this is not a good film or a bad film it is just decent and if it is a Saturday afternoon and you and your friends want to have fun, go the movies and watch The Green Hornet in 3-D.
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