Writer Seth Rogen places himself in the shoes of the eponymous Green Hornet in this updating of the classic radio series and ’60 TV program. After the death of his father, rich kid Britt Reid (Rogen) teams up with mechanic/barista Kato (Jay Chou) to form a daring crime fighting duo.
It doesn’t take long to notice that Rogen is an unlikely choice for a hero, and that’s putting it lightly. As Britt he’s never dashing and he can hardly pretend to be athletic. This may go down in history as the all time worst casting for a male lead in an action-crime film. To his credit Rogen is able to deliver laughs. Teamed with Chou I’m reminded of Be Kind Rewind—another offering from director Michel Gondry. Both films deal with one complete idiot and the guy entertaining him, and both are amusing. The problem with The Green Hornet is that it’s tackling subject matter that isn’t as lighthearted as the characters pretend. This is one film with a funny bone larger than its brain.
Gondry is noted for his music video work. While it’s nice to see an actual auteur approach to a mass-market PG-13 adventure, Gondry puts too much into superfluous editing effects. The biggest detraction of which involve Kato. On first seeing Kato’s fighting technique all kinds of bizarreness occurs. He seemingly calculates how to handle the situation by slowing time and zeroing in on his targets, not like an athlete, but like a time-manipulating cyborg. Furthermore once the kicks start flying, Gondry breaks out some of his more vaunted techniques. This makes for some jarring action as audiences are not used to seeing a gang member shoot across the same car multiple times in the same shot. I know that we aren’t to believe that Kato has the power to duplicate his surroundings, but this enhancement is just a distraction.
Like Be Kind Rewind the two friends spend a great deal of time goofing off. Britt shows a lack of initiative and it destroys any chance for Rogen to win over the audience as a real hero. It doesn’t matter how serious the situation, he’s there to sexually harass, quip, trip, or chill. If Batman lounged about this much, the Joker would be mayor. On that note I don’t understand what was holding back crime lord Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). Maybe it’s his inability to choose an accident. Some will contend that his asinine gun, to which a book could be written about, is the culprit. It’s a giant handgun featuring two barrels, making it neither practical nor remotely usable. For now I’ll just call it the stupidest weapon of recent memory.
It’s 2011 and we haven’t quite made 3D a given, so this is the part of the review where I confess that I saw The Green Hornet in glorious, unhindered 2D. Judging by the end credits the 3D process for this film used the less popular conversion process. I can’t image that seeing The Green Hornet in 3D would add much to the film; the half dozen or so scenes with the craziest editing should pop but that’s about it.
Usually if you’re a fan of something you don’t set out to mock it. It’s awfully kind of Sony Pictures to allow Gondry and Rogen to make this a personalized film, but what installed fan base there was couldn’t be pleased with this overtly comedic theatrical release. The Green Hornet stings its fans. **
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