The Green Hornet (2011)

Film Title: The Green Hornet
Released: January 14, 2011 (USA)
Directed by: Michel Gondry
Written by: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, based on characters created by George W. Trendle & Fran Striker
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz & Christoph Waltz

Plot: An irresponsible playboy becomes a masked vigilante with the help of his trusted partner.

IMDb: 5.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 43/100

My Score: 2/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

This big budget update of The Green Hornet, nearly 20 years in the making, could have and should have been better considering the talent assembled. Michel Gondry (who oddly enough was attached to direct this as his feature film debut in 1997 when it was at Universal) is an excellent director with a fantastic artistic eye that seems to be largely lacking in this film. The explosions and car chases belong in any number of top notch action films but his distinctive surrealism so prevalent in his earlier films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep is reduced to strange shots of distance elongation that gives Jay Chou's Kato more space to do his thing during his fight scenes and one scene where Rogen's character puts together all the pieces of the story. Seth Rogen is generally a like-able character in his films. Even with his faults, you still care about and root for him in the end. Not so much with the character of Britt Reid. Britt is a playboy who doesn't care about anyone or anything but where the next party is. When his father (Tom Wilkinson) dies and leaves him his family owned and operated newspaper, the Daily Sentinel, little changes except that his father issues now bubble to the surface more prominently and he remains in this state for the majority of the movie. I understand the need for a story arc and character development but he goes from self absorbed to selfless in one scene three quarters of the way through the movie with no signs of his gradual change leading up to it. By the time he does actually start realizing that there is more to world than himself, you just don't care. Chou is decent as Kato and seeing him fight is a lot of fun despite the fact that there isn't one fight scene I can recall (except perhaps the "breakup" fight between Rogen & Chou) where the action wasn't augmented with special effects in one way or another. I have never been a fan of Cameron Diaz and her portrayal as Lenore Case, a 36 year old temp with a degree in journalism and a minor in criminology (can you say over qualified?) in this film has done nothing to alter my opinion. Christoph Waltz, on the other hand, steals the show in every scene he's in as a gangster named Chudnofsky. It seems Chudnofsky is going through something of a mid-life crisis. His introduction is a scene in which James Franco (in a cameo appearance) tells him that he's washed up, not scary and needs to retire. Danny Cleer (Franco's character) is the new dog in town. This starts a plot thread in which Chudnofsky begins doubting himself and his methods throughout the rest the of the film. He asks his victims and associates alike honestly and earnestly about his image and style, culminating with him deciding to change his name to Bloodnofsky because it sounds scarier. He even decides to start wearing red to stay within the blood motif. Despite the gun fights, car crashes and martial arts, there isn't too much over the top violence, so when Waltz meets his end by Chou stabbing him in the eyes simultaneously with two broken desk legs, it seems very out of place, especially when Waltz stumbles around for a few frames with one foot pieces of wood sticking out of his face looking like a character from a Bill Plympton cartoon. There are a few really good lines peppered throughout the movie but mostly the comedy is absent. Yet another Hollywood film that squandered the talent at its disposal. David Harbour, Edward James Olmos and Edward Furlong (in little more than a cameo as a meth lab cook) co-star. Hong Kong writer/director/actor Stephen Chow was originally attached to direct and star as Kato but ended up leaving the project due to creative differences. Nicholas Cage was also originally tapped to play the villain (whom imagined as a white Rastafarian) but also left the project due to creative differences. Several other people have been connected to the film during the nearly two decades it took to make it to the big screen. These include George Clooney, Greg Kinnear, Jason Scott Lee, Mark Wahlberg, Christopher McQuarrie, Kevin Smith, Jake Gyllenhaal and Jet Li. The film won two COLAs (California on Location Awards) and one ASCAP Film & Television Music Award. It was also nominated for a Saturn Award, a Taurus Award and two MTV Movie Awards.