The Green Hornet Review

This adaptation of George W. Trendle's and Frank Striker's masked vigilante character coming from genius director Michel Gondry is a grievous thing to watch. This could be from the fact that it was co-written by Seth Rogen to where we're suppose to be diverted for the characters on the screen, but we're not. What we get instead is 108 minutes of humdrum 3D effects and a script that almost seems imminent for Gondry's ingenious vision, but sadly falls far from it.

So we're introduced to Britt Reid(Rogen) who is the son of a millionaire newspaper publisher (Tom Wilkinson) and shall take the responsibility of his father's successful company once he has passed away. Oh, and he's a spoiled little bastard, and like all spoiled bastards with a vast burden hovering over the shoulder , Reid sees his father's company as a diminutive spec he refuses to see. That is until his father actually does pass away, leaving Britt to abide with decisions he's never faced before. So of course he starts to take interest to running his father's achievement, and then starts to make a bond with his father's mechanic and coffee maker, KATO.

Now Kato was originally played by Bruce Lee in the TV series and we all know how great he was. In this adaptation he's played by Jay Chou who clearly is no Bruce Lee but he carries himself well given the fact that Seth Rogen is basically a spotlight whore throughout the film, giving himself ample amount of lines that he believes are humorous. That's what happens when you get the main actor of the film to get on board to commence the script. He's just awful, plain and simple.

So now that Britt and Kato are integrated in a "bromance", they get an idea to fight criminals while impersonating a criminal and his sidekick. The crime boss of the city is Chudnofsky(Oscar Winner Christoph Waltz) who provides the film as only a villain and not a character.

Although the film does provide us with some awesome car chases, the scenes run way too long, and we eventually get a substantial look of all of its phony CGI bolshevik. I guess Seth Rogen got tired of implanting all of his dialogue to the film and felt as though we needed some action relief if that makes sense. I wanted to pass out after almost 9 minutes pass during one of the car chase scene.

Now one thing I liked about this film is that they follow the Trendle's and Striker's storyline rather than modifying it, points for that. Any true fan of The Green Hornet should be familiar with the events leading up to the film's climatic scene. But who cares, you won't feel gratified with the work that was put into it. Gondry will always be remembered for his film "Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind", although I think "The Science of Sleep" is more animated, and I think it's safe to say this is his worst film up to date. Will he be able to redeem himself? We'll have to wait.