film review: the green hornet

I’ll keep this review of The Green Hornet short and sweet because the film is nothing that we haven’t seen before. I’m probably not the person that it was aimed at – it was pointed out to me that the film was written by ‘comic book nerds,’ for ‘comic book nerds’. Funny man Seth Rogen and his collaborative partner Evan Goldberg wrote the screenplay, which originated from a radio serial in the 1920s. It was then turned into comic books in the 1940s, and then a successful television series in the 1960s, which catapulted Bruce Lee to stardom. “We had always been comic fans, superhero fans,” Rogen says. “But nothing was quite right for us until we looked at The Green Hornet. It was like this project was tailor made for what Evan and I wanted to do – we could explore the relationship between Britt and Kato around the framework of this kick-ass action-comedy. It was perfect.” (Columbia Pictures, 2010)

The film follows Britt (Seth Rogen), the emotionally neglected son of a media mogul. This means that unlike his struggling (but funny) character in Knocked Up, Britt is overly spoilt. Spoilt to the point where he spends his time partying, smashing hotel TVs, and expecting his breakfast brought to his bedside every morning. When his father dies, he forms a partnership with Kato (Jay Chou), his father’s mechanic, who possesses almost ‘super hero’ qualities and a knack for technology. Together they plan to take down the crime lords in LA. Unlike other super hero/comic book movies, importance is placed on the sidekick this time. Jay Chou (who has been named by Time Magazine as the ‘King of Asian Pop’) had a lot to live up to when signing up for Bruce Lee’s role, but does not disappoint.  He is quite funny and manages to keep our attention away from the leading man, Seth Rogen, at times. Unfortunately Rogen is not as impressive, but award winning Christopher Waltz – who portrays bad guy Chudnovsky – steals the majority of laughs. James Franco also makes a brief appearance in the opening, and Cameron Diaz stars as Britt’s secretary, Leone.

High-speed chase scenes, martial arts and fancy gadgets dominate the film – as I noted earlier, it’s your typical action/comedy.