I actually have to disagree with you Chance, except on the headache both myself and bestie had headaches afterward, but besides that, I really enjoyed it which is honestly surprising as I had told almost anyone who would listen that I didn’t want to watch it.
Aside from Kill Bill’s references and The Crazy 88’s use of the Kato mask I have never been a fan of The Green Hornet. When it comes to rich bachelors turned masked vigilantes I prefer Mr Bruce Wayne, especially since he does his own stunts instead of hiring a poor asian to do them for him. To be honest the subtle racism of the heroes has always put me off but I digress.
I felt that the modern adaptation of the classic radio serial was actually done really well. Although the story could have been better and the ‘twists’ were predictable the combination of comedy, action and dare I say acting really worked towards the benefit of the overall movie.
When they first announced Seth Rogen as The Green Hornet my only thought was how much a failure it would be. Seth Rogen as a serious superhero and not a tongue-in-cheek comedic one a la ‘Mystery Men’ just seemed ridiculous. After watching the movie I wasn’t necessarily wrong but I wasn’t right either. Seth’s believability as the Green Hornet is believable in that he’s not really a hero at all. In essence yes they are but really the heroing is done mostly by Kato, played by the uber-sexy Jay Chou.
While Britt, Seth Rogen, provides the funding and inspiration Kato is the traditional hero doing the fighting, gadget work and even the driving. At one point it becomes obvious to the two heroes, or at least one of them, that one of them seems to be carrying more weight than the other. Because as has become evident everywhere else nobody wants to be Boy Wonder to anybody’s Batman (unless it’s a hot fetish situation in which case it’s all good). New heroes either want to be full on partners or solo heroes nobody wants to be second string anymore especially if you’re doing all the work.
Seth and partner Evan Goldberg’s story settles this, and even the classics subtle racism, by showing their partnership goes beyond employer and employee… they need each other for the team to work. One is the heart the other the body which is where Cameron Diaz’s Casey comes into play.
‘The brains of the operation’ as Brit so tactfully says at the end was obviously Cameron Diaz whose background in journalism and criminology and expert research abilities helped to plot out their modus operandi. Which was actually the most irksome of the story with a degree in journalism and criminology WHY would you a temp secretary or secretary and not a writer. Yes it’s ridiculous to be annoyed by this in a movie about regular people becoming hero vigilantes with 007-esque weaponry but really… A SECRETARY! Blah…
Anyways of the entire movie I thought the direction, second only to Jay’s super distracting good looks… seriously damn he was hot, was the most standout of the film. I’d read about Gondry’s ‘hero vision’ which if anything put me off the film more. (Stone me if you want but Gondry films without a Kaufman script, and vice versa, just don’t work). However, I have to say it really did work and it was definitely a great way to show the thinking process of ‘heroes.’ Despite being a very tame, toned down and definitely more Hollywood movie Gondry managed to sneak in some his classic art house shots and productions which gave it a real comic book feel.
As for the villain I could not have chosen a better actor than Christoper Waltz I loved him in Inglourios Basterds and I love him as Chud/Blood-nofsky. Deluded, paranoid and just plain psychotic I loved this character… and if anyone was more distracting than Jay it was definitely this sexy salt+pepper mensch. When I first saw him I turned to my friend and said ‘I’d tap that’ his response, mind you he’s straight, was ‘he is pretty handsome.’
Obviously not many people are going to feel the same about the movie some will like it and like you Chance others will walk out. But it’s definitely something I’m encouraging people to see even and not just on dvd… though that’d probably save from a headache… unless you’re smart and take some asperin because damn that headache was bad… well that’s my two cents.
