Monday, January 17, 2011

The Green Hornet Review

It's the month of January and usually films that are released this time of the year are films that are not expected to make much profit or are not the tent pole blockbusters that are reserved to be released during the summer and fall months.  Does The Green Bee, errrr, I mean Hornet break the mold and come out as a winner?

This is a film that I have been following off and on for the past couple of years.  It had many early production problems.  In the beginning I believe it had script problems and then one of it's main stars, acclaimed Asian star Steven Chow, left for other opportunities.  I think the geek community did not embrace the idea of Seth Rogen playing the lead "super hero" character and ultimately after seeing this film, I agree.


Seth Rogen plays Britt Reid, heir to a billion dollar fortune when his newspaper tycoon father is found dead from an apparent bee sting not knowing he was allergic all along.  Seth Rogen is one of my favorite actors of today.  Superbad, Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Pineapple Express and Funny People are all great and funny films.  Does Seth Rogen make the cut as a kick ass crime fighter?  No!  Seth, you just need to stick with making hilarious films about you smoking weed and having some crazy adventure.  I know that is limiting him to a certain stereo type but so far that is what seems to work best for him.  I'm not saying that he at one point will not be able to branch out to do other kinds of roles.  Just not the kind he did for this film.  I laughed a couple of times but Seth was limited a lot in this film.  Then again, do you want to see The Green Hornet running around with a green bong?  Ok, that would be kind of funny.

Cameron Diaz also stars in this film.  Why?  Is she so desperate for roles that she will take about anything that Hollywood throws on her plate?  She didn't fit well and I am not sure if she was there for the eye candy or what?  She has starred in so many films of her own.  It was kind of weird to see her not be the main star in a film.  Perhaps she was going for the Gwyneth Paltrow aka Pepper Pots Iron Man character?  Who knows?  She almost reminded of the character she played in The Mask with Jim Carrey.  Different but that thought came into mind when I watched her in this.  A surprise in this film was Jay Chou as Kato.  He filled the shoes nicely and did a good job fighting in the few fight scenes that were even in this film.  What is up with that?  I guess I was expecting more that what their was.  Christoph Waltz plays Chudnofsky the villian.  He did great as the bad guy going through an identity crisis and still trying to be the baddest of the bad guys.  You are far better off to watch him in Quentin Tarantinos Inglorious Basterds.  Christoph played one of the scariest bad guys in film in that movie!  Their are also a couple of cameos which I will not mention that lighten things up along the way.


I never read the comic books or saw the old television show so I am really going into this with not much background.  The story over all is a generic story that you have seen a hundred times.  Seth Rogen is a spoiled man who loses his dad, befriends the mechanic, they decide to fight crime and eventually beat the bad guy.  That is the movie in a nutshell.  I have to give it to Christopher Nolan.  Wait, your probably wondering where I am going with this.  Christopher Nolan made Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.  Those films are amazing, emotional and action packed super hero movies!  When watching films such as Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Green Hornet etc. etc. they just do not hold a candle to the Batman films.  Perhaps if Batman had not been made I might think more highly of these kinds of films but in my opinion it was a waste of money to make and a waste of money to watch.  I already see the same thing in this summers upcoming flick The Green Lantern.  Really?  Ryan Reynolds?  Campy super heroes again?  Really?  It's worth a rental and that is about it.  2 out of 4 pizzas only because I like Seth Rogen so much.  


**Update:  The Green Hornet pulled in 34 Million dollars this weekend.  I guess people wanted to see it!

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