Star cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz.
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Plot: Playboy Seth Rogen’s father, a newspaper magnate, passes away. Seth pairs up with his father’s kung fu-fighting mechanic, Jay Chou, to fight crime by the night as a masked vigilante. Christoph Waltz, a don, is not happy and wants Seth’s neck.
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What’s Bad: The first half bores a little; the writing could have been better.
Verdict: The Green Hornet has its share of flaws, and it makes for an average watch.
Loo break: In the first half, when the long conversations between Seth Rogen and Jay Chou get boring.
Watch or Not? If you are a fan of the Green Hornet franchise, go for it. But if you are new to ‘The Green Hornet’, go if you have the time.
Sony Pictures Entertainment’s The Green Hornet, based on a radio series of the same name, is the story of a young and rich brat who turns over a new leaf when he discovers, after his father’s death, that he has been wasting away his life.
Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is the prodigal son of James Reid (Tom Wilkinson), a principled media magnate who runs the newspaper, The Daily Sentinel, in Los Angeles, US. Even though his father derides Britt for wasting away his life on wild girls and parties, Britt shamelessly continues to spoil the family name. One day, when one of Britt’s wild parties makes it to the front page of the same newspaper, James is livid and warns his son to get his act together. Unfortunately, that very day, James Reid dies at his home from an allergic reaction to a bee sting.
Britt’s life takes a U-turn as he is supposed to run the newspaper but has no clue how to go about it. Still very much a dilettante, Britt befriends one of his late father’s employees, an expert mechanic, Kato (Jay Chou). The duo has a wild ride in one of his father’s cars. The same night, after beheading his father’s statue, the duo saves a couple under attack from a few hoodlums. Britt starts seeing a larger purpose in his life and suggests to Kato that they become superheroes, but with a twist. Britt envisions that they should behave like the bad guys, and flout all the laws, but, in reality, prevent crimes from happening. Kato agrees and equips Brit’s car with the latest technology and deadly weapons. Britt then christens himself as The Green Hornet at an editorial meeting of his newspaper. Excited after seeing himself and Kato on television news, he forces the editor of his newspaper to give extensive and sensational coverage to all news concerning the misdemeanours of the masked bad guys. Britt even hires a secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), with a degree in criminology, to help him and Kato out with their superhero strategy.
Soon, both Britt and Kato fall for the doe-eyed Lenore and they have a fight over her and ultimately split. In the meantime, the up for re-election District Attorney, Scanlon (David Harbour), and the local don, Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz), who is threatened by The Green Hornet, hatch a plan to eliminate the bad guy. They secretly contact Kato and hire him for the job. What happens thereafter? Does Kato kill Britt? Is Britt able to lead his newspaper out of the disrepute arising out of his father having compromised on his principles? What skeletons does the DA have in his closet? The latter part of the film reveals it all.
Story and Screenplay
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s story and screenplay draw heavily from ‘The Green Hornet’ radio series and its television adaptation. However, the writers have added the humour element to the story by turning the protagonist into a funny character. While this might not appeal to fans of the franchise, it certainly makes the film a better watch. The comedy is bang on most of the times but there are scenes where one wishes that the writers would have pushed the envelope. Moreover, the story has enough action sequences and visual wizardry to appeal to most audiences. Having said that, one must add that there are a few things that are wrong with the script. Britt’s sudden transition from a rich brat to a good Samaritan is unconvincing. So also is the fight between Kato and Britt, especially given the fact that they are basically fighting over a girl, who evidently does not really like either of them. The climax of the film could also have been better.
Star Performances
Watch out for classy performances by Seth Rogen and Jay Chou. Cameron Diaz has little to do. Tom Wilkinson, David Harbour and Edward James Olmos (as the newspaper editor) act well. Christoph Waltz, as the frustrated yet funny villain, is too good. James Franco’s cameo, as the metrosexual don, is impressive.
Direction, Visual Effects & Editing
Michel Gondry’s direction is fair but one expected much more from him, given his track record of visually mesmerising films (Tokyo!, Be Kind Rewind, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, The Science Of Sleep). However, he manages to tell the story of the midnight masked vigilante and his accomplice in an interesting manner. Choreography of the action scenes is excellent, as is the judicious use of 3D technology. Visual effects are fine. Background score by James Newton Howard is appropriate. John Schwartzman’s cinematography and Michael Tronick’s editing take the director’s vision forward.
The Last Word
On the whole, The Green Hornet may appeal to the fans of the franchise but there aren’t many of them in India. The weak script will tell on its box-office performance.
The Green Hornet opened today in the US as well (January 14th, 2011).
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