Review for The Green Hornet

It’s really a sad day for creative art as we say good bye to Michel Gondry as he sails off in to the untalented horizon which is Hollywood. After his last flick, Be Kind Rewind, was such a disappointment he returns to direct the Seth Rogan and Even Goldberg superhero tale which is The Green Hornet. The Green Hornet is based of an old pulp hero which happened to be a television show in the 60s. After director Stephen Chow dropped the project it looked bleak for the production however after Michel Gondry jumped on board there was a certain comfort in knowing the movie would turn out well, the end result however is far less interesting then it should have been.

The story follows Brett Ried (Seth Rogan) a spoiled son of a millionaire who, after the death of his father decides to become a superhero with his sidekick Kato (Jay Chou). However instead of going down the normal route they decide to pose as villains in order to get close to the villain before taking them out. The villain in this case is Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) a less then scary villain who has a complex issue as he blows up various competition around L.A.  With Kato’s quick wit and engineering talent and Brett’s charisma (often mistaken for arrogance) and apparent wealth the two set out to have some fun sooner then actually save the neighbourhood.

It comes as little surprise that the movie is full of gags especially after the writing due to them making their names from penning Superbad. However sometimes the jokes feel out of place and even inappropriate, but when they are in the right place they work to the films advantage.

The film also handles it’s homage’s well as subtle hints a littered through out of the television show and more importantly it Bruce Lee who played the role of Kato in the 60s television show. Aside from that the film is poorly paced as the only interesting parts include Brett and Kato’s relationship whilst the rest seems to drag its heels especially with the scenes with Chudnofsky and Lenore (Cameron Diaz). Whilst the Bromance elements seen in Superband are also present here the stylised action scenes soon become boring and repetitive.

With Seth Rogen in the lead he plays his usual funny guy however it is Jay Chou who steals the attention as this is his first Hollywood movie and in fact when he’s on screen the film becomes much more interesting. Apart from them Christoph Waltz and Cameron Diaz did the best they could with the fairly poor material they where given. Christoph Waltz appears as a tacky 80’s villain whilst Cameron Diaz is really showing her age.

The most disappointing part of the movie is the direction which is so bland and contrived with only a few sparks of originality but it is even more disappointing seeing how the director has made his man on his visual style. Certain impressive visual elements to peek through but on the most part it’s a generic Hollywood big budget movie.

If your looking for an action superhero flick with some good laughs then you should take a look but don’t look for too long or you might get a head ache. The movie is very flawed and vastly disappointing. Once again another movie has been throw out in 3D and whilst it appears present at first you are quick to forget it’s even there. With Superhero movies on the rise of in quality such as Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim- this is definitely a step back but with the pedigree behind it it should have been much more impressive however it falls flat on it’s face like its wacky lead.

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