The Green Hornet (2011)

Directed by: Michel Gondry
Written by: Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg
Based on radio series created by: George W Trendle

I saw this movie nearly a month ago at Butt Numb-a-Thon, but I wasn’t allowed to post a review of it. I guess they thought that people would hate it and decide to bash it before it had a chance.

Well, let me tell you that wouldn’t have happened with the crowd at BNAT. I’m pretty sure that we all loved it…or at least thought that it was a lot of fun.

Brit Reid (Seth Rogen) is a fucking loser. Oh, he’s rich as hell (because of his dad (Tom Wilkinson)) and can get any woman he wants. But that doesn’t stop him from being a fucking loser. Those women don’t respect him. They respect his dad’s money.
Dear ol’ dad is the owner of the biggest newspaper in town and would have loved it if Brit had followed in his footsteps. Unfortunately…well, the whole fucking loser thing.

When dad dies, Brit has to figure out what to do with his life. That’s when he meets Kato (Jay Chou), the genius who made dad’s coffee…and fixed up his cars…and is able to kick an ass or two from ten feet away.

Both of these guys have let a lot of potential fall away, but now they’ve figured it out: they’re going to be superheroes by making everyone think that they’re super villains!

Meanwhile, Chudnovsky (Christoph Waltz) is taking over the town…even though he’s not scary.

What’s really interesting about this movie isn’t necessarily that it’s another superhero movie based on a property that people had all but forgotten about. It’s the fact that virtually no one involved is typical for this kind of movie. Seth Rogen? A superhero? Whatever. Michel Gondry? Directing an action intensive movie? Come on.

But, ya know what? It works REALLY well. Seth is perfect for the role as he and Evan Goldberg have re-written it. Basically, Brit is a pretty regular schlub who has never had any kind of responsibilities. Now that he has something to do with his life, he has to rise to the occasion.

As for Gondry, he handles the action really well. It’s almost non-stop action and comedy with only a couple of forays into his typical surrealness.

The real revelation, though, is Jay Chou as Kato. This was the star-making turn for Bruce Lee back in the 60s, too. I think that, if the movie does well, Jay could be as big a star in America as he is in China.

The movie’s not perfect, but it is a LOT of fun and FAR funnier than I thought it would be. It’s also probably funnier than fans of the original Green Hornet think that it should be. This is, basically, a comedy with lots of action. I don’t think that The Green Hornet has ever been seen that way until now. Sure, I don’t know much about the original, but this certainly isn’t the way I thought the movie would be.

I’m kind of glad that it is, though. A reimagining of a second tier hero is really never a bad thing. Luckily, it was done by a team who knew what they were doing.