Geeks on Film: The Green Hornet [Review]

With its tumultuous production and January release, I was worried about The Green Hornet. And I’ve never been a fan of Seth Rogen. One thing I did know from the trailer, I was expecting something fun… but we all know how trustworthy trailers can be.

In the world of comic book movies, The Green Hornet is no Dark Knight… but it is a lot of fun and that’s really the only way I could have seen this working as a feature film. If you’re not familiar with this iteration of The Green Hornet, the film is about Brett Reid, the buffoonish son of a wealthy newspaper publisher. His father dies, essentially leaving him the keys to the kingdom. With his father gone he also comes face to face with Kato, the mechanic/master barista who he discovers making some really strange modifications to his father’s cars due to some unknown paranoia.

I really like how they don’t set out to be superheroes in the beginning of the film. It’s only when they kind of fall into it while actually out drunk & committing an act of vandalism that it all sort of falls into place. But, after saving a couple they decide to go into the crime fighting business part time, but with a catch; the Green Hornet will appear to be a criminal and take the bad guys down while eluding and pissing off the police as well.

Eventually this escalates into an all out gang-war and while the ride is pretty ridiculous, once you have accepted a car rocking dual Gatling guns and a front mounted flame thrower the rest is easy.

The film stars Seth Rogan as Brett/The Green Hornet and while the role is about as much of a departure for him as Lindsay Lohan’s in Machete, it makes the film and character work. He is assisted by Jay Chou who plays Kato, who basically steals the entire film… much like Bruce Lee did in the original television series.

The film also stars Christoph Waltz, the actor who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Col. Hands Landa in Inglorious Basterds, as the lead villain. And he’s amazing as usual. We also have Cameron Diaz as the required love interest of the film, and Captain Adama, oops… I mean Edward James Olmos, as Axford, Brett’s father’s friend and confidant.

This film is indeed a 3D up-convert and sometimes it does show, but they do some really interesting things with the implementation of it, especially with the “Kato Vision” sequences. Michael Gondry does a great job actually giving us something new, both in 3D and action sequences that feels almost like a mash-up of a videogames and bullet time with a 3D twist.  I definitely have to say if you have the chance checking the film out in 3D.

The Green Hornet is a welcome addition to the time of the year where most studios seem to dump their films that are DOA and lucky to make money simply off the boredom of theater patrons. I really had a lot of fun with The Green Hornet. It was a pleasant surprise and wasn’t afraid to be campy… and I think ultimately that is what made the film.

It is with that I give The Green Hornet as solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. Make sure you stay for the great credits on this one to see some really great 3D effects.