A playboy-turned-superhero Britt Reid (right, played by Seth Rogen) and his genius partner Kato (played by Asian superstar Jay Chou) in Green Hornet. Columbia Pictures
The Green Hornet
(119 minutes, Columbia Pictures )
Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, and Cameron Diaz, also featuring Christoph Waltz, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour, and Tom Wilkinson
Directed by Michel Gondry
Written by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
Produced by Neal H. Moritz
A playboy-turned-superhero and his multi-talented buddy pose as criminals to take down outlaws in the Los Angeles underworld.
You don’t need super powers to become a superhero as long as you have a genius partner who can help with a bunch of sophisticated gadgets as well as be a martial-arts master. This is the situation of the Green Hornet and his ally Kato.
The Green Hornet, a masked and dark-suited vigilante, was created by George W. Trendle, the same man who created the Lone Ranger who appeared in a radio series in 1936 before being made into comic books.
The story of the Green Hornet hit television in 1966. Van Williams starred as the Green Hornet and Bruce Lee portrayed Kato. Even though it only lasted a year, the TV series catapulted Lee to stardom.
Now, Hollywood filmmakers aim at digging more gold by bringing the character to the big screen for the first time.
For the film version, comedian Seth Rogen (known for his roles in comedies like Knocked Up, Superbad and Pineapple Express) was tapped to play the title role, while Asian superstar Jay Chou reprised Kato.
French-born filmmaker Michel Gondry, recognized for directing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, sits in the director seat.
The Green Hornet centers around the adventures of Britt Reid (played by Seth Rogen), the son of a prominent and respected newspaper publisher, who likes to spend his time partying. His life changes when his father, James Reid (Tom Wilkinson), mysteriously dies. Britt inherits his media empire and is thrust into an industry he knows nothing about.
One day, Britt meets his father’s former mechanic Kato (Jay Chou), who stuns him with his engineering expertise and skill. The two guys instantly become friends and see the possibilities of doing something big and meaningful in their lives by being superheroes and fighting crimes.
Kato handles the weaponry side of things by inventing a series of sophisticated gadgets, including transforming Britt’s car into an indestructible ride called The Black Beauty, which is fully loaded with edgy innovations and inventions.
Britt decides to be the Green Hornet and together with Kato as his sidekick, he quickly gains fame and searches for evidence to expose the city’s underworld through Britt’s newspaper with the assistance of Britt’s new, attractive secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz).
Unlike other superheroes who save people directly from robbers on the streets or stop speeding trains, these two guys come up with a different method: posing as criminals to get closer into the real outlaws.
They hit the road on wheels, nailing the bad guys with Kato’s gadgets and his incredible martial-arts abilities.
The search leads them to the mastermind behind LA’s crime world: Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). But the sleek Chudnofsky has his own plans of bringing down the Green Hornet, who has caused some serious trouble for his illegal business.
The youngsters who don’t know about the TV series might take this movie as an entertaining flick, while the old generation and fans of the original version may think the opposite.
Seth Rogen, who also co-wrote the script, depicts Britt Reid as a spoiled, annoying, whiny guy who likes to say dirty words and does sloppy work, things that are quite familiar from Rogen’s previous films.
The real superhero of the flick is of course Kato, since the Green Hornet, aka Britt Reid, is nothing but an egomaniac with no skills.
When the action heats up and Kato’s heart pumps faster, his perception of time slows, and he gets
special vision allowing him to quickly outclass the bad guys. Jay Chou’s portrayal of the lovable Kato is quite entertaining and fun to watch as he steals almost every scene.
Cameron Diaz herself adds nothing significant to the movie except being the girl who causes frictions between Britt and Kato.
After his terrific role in Quentin Tarantino’s critically acclaimed Inglorious Basterds, Christoph Waltz once again plays the bad guy, providing subtlety as an unpredictable mob boss suffering a mid-life crisis.
One interesting scene that establishes Waltz as a villain is when Chudnofsky meets face-to-face with another mobster named Danny “Crystal” Clear.
James Franco, who rose to fame by playing Peter Parker’s best friend Harry Osborn in Spider-Man, has a cameo at the beginning of the flick and provides an entertaining moment.
Verdict: Audiences should not take this film too seriously since it is a light, 3D action comedy which you might love or hate.
