Synopsis: Britt Reid, son and heir to Los Angeles' largest newspaper fortune, is a rich, spoiled playboy who has been happy to maintain a direction-less existence. When his father James Reid dies, Britt meets an impressive and resourceful company employee, Kato. They realize that they have the resources to do something worthwhile with their lives and finally step out of James Reid's shadow. Kato builds the ultimate weapon, The Black Beauty, an indestructible car with every weapon imaginable and Britt decides that in order to be heroes, they will pose as villains. With the help of Britt's new secretary, Lenore Case, they learn that the chief criminal in the city is named Benjamin Chudnofsky. He has united all the gangs under his power, and he quickly sees that the Green Hornet is a direct threat to the prosperous criminal underworld he controls.
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour, Tom Wilkinson
Directed by: Michel Gondry
U.S. Rating: PG-13
I grew up watching amazing old TV series. Even though I was just a kid, I loved and totally enjoyed watching action TV series like The A-Team, The Hulk, Starsky and Hutch, CHiPs and especially, The Green Hornet. This last one was my top favorite one. I totally felt like an adult watching these TV series with my dad and older brother. I was such a fan of Bruce Lee (Kato).
It's been decades since I watched The Green Hornet, but I still remember this TV series like it was yesterday.
That's the main reason why I was so excited when I heard for the first time that Columbia Pictures would bring The Green Hornet to the big screen. I tried to follow all the updates, criticisms and comments about this production, and to be honest, I was kind of surprised that Seth Rogen would take the role of Britt Reid, since I didn't know how a comedian would deliver the real character of Britt Reid in this film. I didn't know he was the co-writer of the script.
The film starts with a flashback of Britt's early years. He lost his mom being just a little boy. His dad, James Reid, is the owner of the most important newspaper in LA (The Daily Sentinel). James didn't have much time to spend with his son. James expected too much from his son Britt, but he didn't get the attention and love he needed from his own father. Now, being a 28-year-old guy, he's a famous irresponsible "party boy". He doesn't want to learn anything about his dad's empire. He just cares of getting up in the morning, enjoy his coffee and get ready for another wild day.
When his dad dies in his garden from an allergic reaction to a bee sting, he's shocked about the situation and new responsibilities he'll have to face with the newspaper.
When he wakes up the morning after, he notices that his "special coffee" is gone. When he tries to find a responsible for this, he finds out that his coffee was prepared every morning by his dad's mechanic, which he fired the day before, after finding the news of his dad's death.
Kato was more than a mechanic. He was a skilled martial artist who not just took care of all his dad's cars collection, but prepared the best coffee ever from a coffee machine created by himself.
Britt and Kato start knowing each other better. Kato shows Britt some of the secret weapons he prepared for his dad's personal security. Britt notices how crazy and worried his dad was regarding his own security. Britt tells Kato how awful and boring their lives are and he tries to convince him that they should do something about it. They go out on a night and start fighting some minor crimes, but they're suddenly involved in a bad social perception of their truthful intentions, when they're captured on a video while visiting his dad's graveyard to cut the head off a memorial statue of his dad on a whim. In the process, they are mistaken by the police for the criminals and chased through the street.
Britt convinces Kat that they should become crimefighters who pose as criminals in order to infiltrate real criminals, and also to prevent enemies from using innocents against them. Britt tries to change this bad perception using his dad's newspaper, giving more and more attention to his secret identity and work. Meanwhile, Kato works on some several gadgets and weapons and fits them in a black sedan called "The Black Beauty".
They decide to fight the most important criminal in LA, Chudnofsky. He runs all the night clubs and illegal drug operations in the city. All the drug dealers and illegal labs work for him. Britt and Kato will start destroying his operations and leaving a business card with an "e-mail address".
One of the very first scenes shows the moment when Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) arrives to a new night club opened in LA. Chudnofsky went to visit the owner of this place to complaint that he was affecting his reputation opening this place and selling drugs without his authorization. Chudnofsky was the biggest criminal and drug dealer in the city and he wouldn't accept that a new guy in town would open a night club and sell drugs without paying him for it. So, he offers the owner (I won't mention who this person was... he was HILARIOUS!) to give him the night club and turn into his employee. The dialogue on this opening scene was extremely funny and entertaining.
Britt hires Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz) a personal assistant with some expertise and a degree in criminology. Britt tries to get from her the way a criminal mind like "The Green Hornet" would act, and that's the way they move all their actions and hits.
When Chudnofsky feels threatened by The Green Hornet, he tries to kill them (Britt and Kato) and fails in this attempt. Then he tries to make a deal with him to kill the DA of LA and divide the city and illegal businesses in two. The DA of LA is also trying to deal with Britt for his re-election.
At the end, Chudnofsky tries to change his image and changes his name to Bloodnofsky, dressing with a red suit to make the point that blood is what everyone would see when they think of him. Bloodnofsky and his gang, along with the DA will try to kill The Green Hornet but they will fail at the end.
The plot is completely away from the original idea and characters set for the TV series. It is also, obviously, set for the modern days. I was expecting something else, since I thought they would bring the original idea and action set for the TV series, but at the end, they decided to give a comedy point of view to the script, the same way it happened with Starsky and Hutch, played by Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Both TV series were tough action scripts, but both films didn't follow the original frame.
I was also excited to watch some really good action from Kato. Kato was originally played by Bruce Lee, so it was amazing to watch him kick some butts with his amazing and unique skills in martial arts. Jay Chou performed his role amazingly well, but he couldn't deliver the fight scenes I'd expect to see with any other possible asian actor. Christoph Waltz has become one of my top favorite actors. He is simply amazing. His role in Inglorious Basterds was a poem, but I felt like he was unconfortable playing his role in this film, it didn't help him to show his real talent.
Another special criticism is about the 3D tech used for this film. To be honest, I don't know the reason of shooting this film in 3D. The quality was poor, I didn't feel like I was actually watching a film in 3D. It was a waste of money on my tickets. I would have rathered to watch it in 2D. The only reason watched it in 3D was because they didn't have it in 2D.
You might think that, due to all these criticisms and comments, the film is not worth to watch. But let me tell you that you're wrong. I must say that I haven't laughed so much in a film at theaters since The Hangover. I laughed from start to end. Some of the dialogue lines were hilarious. We really enjoyed and had a pretty good time. I think they were trying to target the young audience, since they wouldn't have any idea of the original idea of this TV series.
I totally recommend the film, you will have some really good laughs. If you watched the original TV series, don't expect anything close to the facts and original idea. You will have some good laughs and entertaining time.
I would rate this movie with a 3/5
Directed by: Michel Gondry
U.S. Rating: PG-13
I grew up watching amazing old TV series. Even though I was just a kid, I loved and totally enjoyed watching action TV series like The A-Team, The Hulk, Starsky and Hutch, CHiPs and especially, The Green Hornet. This last one was my top favorite one. I totally felt like an adult watching these TV series with my dad and older brother. I was such a fan of Bruce Lee (Kato).
It's been decades since I watched The Green Hornet, but I still remember this TV series like it was yesterday.
That's the main reason why I was so excited when I heard for the first time that Columbia Pictures would bring The Green Hornet to the big screen. I tried to follow all the updates, criticisms and comments about this production, and to be honest, I was kind of surprised that Seth Rogen would take the role of Britt Reid, since I didn't know how a comedian would deliver the real character of Britt Reid in this film. I didn't know he was the co-writer of the script.
The film starts with a flashback of Britt's early years. He lost his mom being just a little boy. His dad, James Reid, is the owner of the most important newspaper in LA (The Daily Sentinel). James didn't have much time to spend with his son. James expected too much from his son Britt, but he didn't get the attention and love he needed from his own father. Now, being a 28-year-old guy, he's a famous irresponsible "party boy". He doesn't want to learn anything about his dad's empire. He just cares of getting up in the morning, enjoy his coffee and get ready for another wild day.
When his dad dies in his garden from an allergic reaction to a bee sting, he's shocked about the situation and new responsibilities he'll have to face with the newspaper.
When he wakes up the morning after, he notices that his "special coffee" is gone. When he tries to find a responsible for this, he finds out that his coffee was prepared every morning by his dad's mechanic, which he fired the day before, after finding the news of his dad's death.
Kato was more than a mechanic. He was a skilled martial artist who not just took care of all his dad's cars collection, but prepared the best coffee ever from a coffee machine created by himself.
Britt and Kato start knowing each other better. Kato shows Britt some of the secret weapons he prepared for his dad's personal security. Britt notices how crazy and worried his dad was regarding his own security. Britt tells Kato how awful and boring their lives are and he tries to convince him that they should do something about it. They go out on a night and start fighting some minor crimes, but they're suddenly involved in a bad social perception of their truthful intentions, when they're captured on a video while visiting his dad's graveyard to cut the head off a memorial statue of his dad on a whim. In the process, they are mistaken by the police for the criminals and chased through the street.
Britt convinces Kat that they should become crimefighters who pose as criminals in order to infiltrate real criminals, and also to prevent enemies from using innocents against them. Britt tries to change this bad perception using his dad's newspaper, giving more and more attention to his secret identity and work. Meanwhile, Kato works on some several gadgets and weapons and fits them in a black sedan called "The Black Beauty".
They decide to fight the most important criminal in LA, Chudnofsky. He runs all the night clubs and illegal drug operations in the city. All the drug dealers and illegal labs work for him. Britt and Kato will start destroying his operations and leaving a business card with an "e-mail address".
One of the very first scenes shows the moment when Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) arrives to a new night club opened in LA. Chudnofsky went to visit the owner of this place to complaint that he was affecting his reputation opening this place and selling drugs without his authorization. Chudnofsky was the biggest criminal and drug dealer in the city and he wouldn't accept that a new guy in town would open a night club and sell drugs without paying him for it. So, he offers the owner (I won't mention who this person was... he was HILARIOUS!) to give him the night club and turn into his employee. The dialogue on this opening scene was extremely funny and entertaining.
Britt hires Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz) a personal assistant with some expertise and a degree in criminology. Britt tries to get from her the way a criminal mind like "The Green Hornet" would act, and that's the way they move all their actions and hits.
When Chudnofsky feels threatened by The Green Hornet, he tries to kill them (Britt and Kato) and fails in this attempt. Then he tries to make a deal with him to kill the DA of LA and divide the city and illegal businesses in two. The DA of LA is also trying to deal with Britt for his re-election.
At the end, Chudnofsky tries to change his image and changes his name to Bloodnofsky, dressing with a red suit to make the point that blood is what everyone would see when they think of him. Bloodnofsky and his gang, along with the DA will try to kill The Green Hornet but they will fail at the end.
The plot is completely away from the original idea and characters set for the TV series. It is also, obviously, set for the modern days. I was expecting something else, since I thought they would bring the original idea and action set for the TV series, but at the end, they decided to give a comedy point of view to the script, the same way it happened with Starsky and Hutch, played by Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Both TV series were tough action scripts, but both films didn't follow the original frame.
I was also excited to watch some really good action from Kato. Kato was originally played by Bruce Lee, so it was amazing to watch him kick some butts with his amazing and unique skills in martial arts. Jay Chou performed his role amazingly well, but he couldn't deliver the fight scenes I'd expect to see with any other possible asian actor. Christoph Waltz has become one of my top favorite actors. He is simply amazing. His role in Inglorious Basterds was a poem, but I felt like he was unconfortable playing his role in this film, it didn't help him to show his real talent.
Another special criticism is about the 3D tech used for this film. To be honest, I don't know the reason of shooting this film in 3D. The quality was poor, I didn't feel like I was actually watching a film in 3D. It was a waste of money on my tickets. I would have rathered to watch it in 2D. The only reason watched it in 3D was because they didn't have it in 2D.
You might think that, due to all these criticisms and comments, the film is not worth to watch. But let me tell you that you're wrong. I must say that I haven't laughed so much in a film at theaters since The Hangover. I laughed from start to end. Some of the dialogue lines were hilarious. We really enjoyed and had a pretty good time. I think they were trying to target the young audience, since they wouldn't have any idea of the original idea of this TV series.
I totally recommend the film, you will have some really good laughs. If you watched the original TV series, don't expect anything close to the facts and original idea. You will have some good laughs and entertaining time.
I would rate this movie with a 3/5
Have you watched the film? What did you like or dislike from this movie? What would you rate this movie? Share with us your thoughts!
Enjoy it!... Watch it!
0 comments