Movie Review - 'The Green Hornet'

The Green Hornet Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou and Christoph Waltz Directed by Michel Gondry Rated PG

To say that Seth Rogen is woefully miscast in the lead role of The Green Hornet would be a vast understatement. While Rogen's slacker, stoner persona has served him well in comedies like Knocked Up and The 40-Year Old Virgin, his decision to portray Britt Reid in that same vein ultimately ends up ruining this film.

Rogen, who co-wrote the script with his writing partner Evan Goldberg, presents Reid as a spoiled, misogynistic rich kid floating through life with no real ambition or purpose. There is nothing particularly likable or relatable about Reid, though he is meant to be the hero of the film. His decision to become a masked vigilante is one that seems to lack any real conviction and instead simply seems like a way for him to pass the time.

Making matters worse, Reid spends most of the film being jealous of Kato (Jay Chou), his far-more-talented sidekick/chauffeur who does all of the heavy lifting on their crime fighting expeditions, and sexually harassing his intellectually-superior secretary Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), who for some unknown reason tolerates his inappropriate behavior. While he occasionally rattles off a funny one-liner, most of the time he is so loathsome that you have no reason to root for him and thus never feel fully invested in his story.

Reid just sort of stumbles into the whole superhero gig. In typical Seth Rogen slacker character fashion, Reid makes the decision while getting sloppy drunk with his mechanic/personal barista Kato. After Reid's father (Tom Wilkinson) dies unexpectedly from an allergic reaction to a bee sting, Reid decides to get wasted with Kato and the two begin swapping horror stories about the old man. This leads to a decision to deface his dad's memorial statue and it is during that outing that Reid stumbles across a crime being committed and decides to play the hero.

In a long, convoluted diatribe explaining how they are wasting their potential (though Reid, as written by Rogen, seems to have no real potential), Reid convinces Kato that they should become crime fighters together. He tells Kato that the best way to accomplish this is to let the world believe they are villains, which he is convinced will somehow protect their secret identities. However, as Kato points out, all the plan really does is ensure that both the criminals and the police are after them.

Their partnership is incredibly lopsided. Kato does all of the work - he drives the car, builds the gadgets they use and is tasked with beating down most of their adversaries - but the Green Hornet gets all of the credit. In fact, Kato gets so little credit that he doesn't even get a superhero alias.

Reid uses the family business he inherited, The Daily Sentinel newspaper, to promote the Green Hornet as a criminal mastermind. This, of course, upset the true criminal kingpin in the city, Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz), who decides he must take down the Green Hornet. A showdown between these two forces ensues.

Unfortunately, the plot just never really clicks. Written in Rogen and Goldberg's typical laid back style, the story never picks up any steam and the stakes never seem very high. As a viewer, you don't feel invested in what's happening on the screen. Mostly, the movie just ambles from one scene to the next with no real flow or sense of purpose. And, with a two-hour running time, the film really drags.

Perhaps if the 3D in the film was rendered better, it would help to distract from the weak plot, but sadly that is not the case. The Green Hornet is a film that wasn't conceived or shot in 3D, but was instead converted to 3D in post production, which never works well. If you have your heart set on seeing this film, do yourself a favor and don't waste the extra money on a 3D ticket.

There are a few scattered moments in the film that are fun though. Some of the jokes are really funny, the action scenes (though forgettable) are mostly well-shot and a few of Kato and Reid's scenes together do really work.

Also, while Michel Gondry is too restrained in his directing in this film, there are a few bits of visual flair that fans of his work will enjoy. To showcase Kato's martial arts ability and quickness, Gondry slows down the camera and shows Kato visually locking on to his targets, which is a really cool effect. There is also a great montage that implements multiple split screens.

The performances by Chou and Waltz are both incredibly solid as well. This appears to be a breakout role for Chou, who seems poised to be the next Jackie Chan or Jet Li. Waltz, it's no surprise, is really fun to watch as Chudnofsky, though unfortunately he isn't given much to work with. The film plays with the notion that Chudnofsky, though incredibly powerful, is insecure about his public persona, but the idea is sadly never fully developed.

Waltz's best scene is actually his first scene in the film, in which he confronts a rival gangster who Chudnofsky believes is invading his turf. The rival gangster, played by James Franco (in an uncredited role), has no respect for Chudnofsky, so he hurls a string of hilarious insults at him (including calling him a disco Santa Claus). These two great actors have a great chemistry with each other and their one brief scene leaves you wanting to see more of the two of them together.

Unfortunately, what you are given instead is two hours of uneven storytelling and utterly forgettable action. And worst of all, what you are never given is a reason to care.

Comments

[Patrick Fancher]

Thanks for the heads up. I guess this one can wait to be seen on DVD.