Review - The Green Hornet

When his father dies, Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) decides to change his life, turn his back on his days as a party boy and devote his life to fighting crime. With the help of his friend and mechanic, Kato (Jay Chou), Reid forms his alter ego – The Green Hornet – and sets about cleaning up the streets of LA. Along the way, however, he discovers some unpleasant truths about his father and the media empire that he was running.

The Green Hornet has been a pet project of Seth Rogen’s for a long time. Like Scorsese’s beloved Gangs of New York, it kept getting pushed back and pushed back to such a degree that many wondered if it would ever see the light of day. The movie is finally here, but the question is, is it any good?

Seth Rogen is not the immediate choice to play a super hero, but as well as championing the film, he changed his entire physical appearance for the role, which he should be commended for. He appears to have great fun with the role, but sadly, the character and the script let him down. Britt Reid is portrayed as arrogant, abrasive and almost completely incapable of learning from his mistakes. He has no idea how to relate to people so he seems to just force himself on those around him, especially Kato. This said, the friendship that develops between the two – even though Britt refuses to give Kato credit for any of his ideas – is a passable bromance and Britt becomes slightly more endearing through Kato’s eyes.

Jay Chou is fine as Kato, but while he does the job – and appears to have fun in the action scenes – he does not exactly set the screen alight. Neither does Cameron Diaz as Lenore Chase, but she does an OK job with what she is given. Really, she is just there to look good, be on the receiving end of Britt’s sexist comments and occasionally supply the Green Hornet with ideas about what he should do next, as he has no idea what he is doing – his words.

The biggest disappointment is Christoph Waltz as Chudnofsky. We all know, from his outstanding performance as Colonel Hans Lander in Inglorious Basterds, that Waltz is capable of playing a deliciously wicked bad guy. This role could have been the tongue in cheek parody of his most famous role, but Chudnofsky never seems to get going. While his first spar with a club owner who is encroaching on his turf is true to form, he soon loses steam through badly timed jokes and becomes vaguely menacing rather than an actual threat.

Director Michel Gondry is best known, so far, for the wonderful Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Thus, he is an odd choice to direct a super hero movie, but he does the best with what he has. The film has moments of visual beauty – especially the fight scenes and Britt’s flashback over the events of the film – but other than that Gondry’s style does not appear to come through.

There is no clear cut mission, and this is what dogs the film’s pace. The movie seems uncertain whether to focus on Britt’s transformation, the bad guy Chudnofsky, the unnecessary love triangle with Diaz’s Lenore or how Britt is following in his father’s footsteps by manipulating the media. By the time the exposition finally happens the audience is not surprised or even that interested. And as for the 3D, don’t even ask.

Overall, The Green Hornet is a muddled, messy film, carried by a lead actor who should probably stick to supporting roles where he could really shine. The script tries very hard to balance comedy and action with the identity crisis of the protagonist, but most of the jokes and quips fall flat, possibly due to Rogen’s hammy acting – the delivery of his lines appears forced and over acted, as though he is trying to channel Will Ferrell in Anchorman. This falls flat, however, since none of the other actors are hamming it up in any way. Fans may well be delighted by this adaptation, and there are worse ways to pass a few hours than seeing The Green Hornet. It is a passable super hero movie, even if it not quite sure if it wants to be Iron Man or Kick Ass.